Mahal
by PnAyLynn
Summary: NEWLY REVISED CHAPTERS! Aww... Young love... isn't it cute? And that's what the story is about ppl! Yay! Mostly BA with some OW CX
1. Roster

"Mahal" 

By: Lynn 

DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!! 

SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school. 

DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me?! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. 

E-MAIL: shawtyPnAyangel220@hotmail.com 

BETA READER: Ashley Russo 

THE ROARKES 

Liam Angelus "Angel" Roarke 

Age: 18; senior in highschool 

Hair: Dark brown 

Eyes: Dark brown 

Parents: Donovan and Isabella Roarke 

Family status: Oldest out of 5 and Roarke triplets 

Daniel Oscar "Oz" Roarke 

Age: 18; senior in highschool

Hair: Light brown with a red tint; change s to wild colors now and then 

Eyes: Blue 

Parents: Donovan and Isabella Roarke 

Family status: 2nd oldest out of 5 

Alexander Harris "Xander" Roarke 

Age: 18; senior in highschool 

Hair: Dark brown 

Eyes: Dark brown 

Parents: Donovan and Isabella Roarke

Family status: 3rd out of 5 and the youngest out of the Roarke triplets 

Connor Donovan Roarke 

Age: 16; sophomore in highschool

Hair: Brown 

Eyes: Blue 

Parents: Donovan and Isabella Roarke

Family status: 4th child and older out of the Roarke twins 

Jessica Katherine Roarke 

Age: 16; sophomore in highschool 

Hair: Dark brown 

Eyes: Dark brown 

Parents: Donovan and Isabella Roarke

Family status: Youngest out of the 5 and twins 

Isabella Roarke 

Hair: Dark brown 

Eyes: Dark brown 

Family status: Mother and single parent of 5 and aunt of Riley 

Donovan Roarke 

Hair: Red 

Eyes: Blue 

Family status: Father of the 5, but deceased 

Riley Tanner Finn 

Age: 17; senior in highschool 

Hair: Dark blonde 

Eyes: Blue 

Family status: Cousin of the Roarkes; Only child 

Emily Finn 

Hair: Light brown 

Eyes: Blue 

Family status: Sister of Donovan, mother of Riley, and aunt of Roarkes 

George Finn

Hair: Dark blonde 

Eyes: Blue 

Family status: Father of Riley and uncle of Roarkes 

THE SUMMERS 

Buffy Anne Summers 

Age: 17; senior in highschool 

Hair: Golden blonde 

Eyes: Greenish-blue 

Parents: Rupert and Joyce Summers 

Family status: Older sister of Dawn

Dawn Marie Summers 

Age: 15; sophomore in highschool

Hair: Light brown 

Eyes: Blue 

Parents: Rupert and Joyce Summers 

Family status: Younger sister of Buffy 

Rupert "Giles" Summers 

Hair: Graying light brown

Eyes: Hazel

Family status: Father of 2 daughters and uncle of Tara and Spike

Joyce Summers 

Hair: Brownish blonde 

Eyes: Hazel 

Family status: Mother of Buffy and Dawn and aunt of Tara and Spike

Tara Lily MacClay 

Age: 19; freshman in college 

Hair: Brownish blonde 

Eyes: Blue 

Parents: Greta and Robert MacClay 

Family status: Older sister of Spike and cousin of Buffy and Dawn 

William Andrew "Spike" MacClay 

Age: 18; senior in highschool

Hair: Platinum blonde 

Eyes: Blue 

Parents: Robert and Greta MacClay

Family status: Younger brother of Tara and cousin of Buffy and Dawn 

  


Greta MacClay 

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Hazel

Family status: Joyce's older sister, aunt of Buffy and Dawn, mother of Spike and Tara

Robert MacClay 

Hair: Blonde 

Eyes: Blue 

Family status: Father of Spike and Tara 

FRIENDS 

Cordelia Johanna Chase 

Age: 18; senior in highschool

Hair: Dark brown 

Eyes: Dark brown 

Status: One of the best friends of Buffy 

Willow Beth Rosenberg 

Age: 17; senior in highschool

Hair: Auburn 

Eyes: Blue

Status: Buffy's other best friend 

Charles "Gunn" Gunn 

Age: 18; senior in highschool 

Hair: Black, but shaves his head bald

Eyes: Dark brown 

Status: Angel's new best friend 

Winifred "Fred" Bonnie Burkle 

Age: 17; junior in highschool 

Hair: Light brown 

Eyes: Brown 

Status: Gunn's girlfriend 

Faith Jeffreys 

Age:16; junior in highschool 

Hair: Brown 

Eyes: Brown 

Status: Angel, Xander, and Oz's old best friend from Orlando


	2. The new boys

"Mahal"   
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/   
E-MAIL:   
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 1

"Hi Buffy!"

"Hey Buffy!"

"Summers. Hey Girl!"

Buffy Summers, one of the most popular girls in Sunnydale High, smiled and waved to her schoolmates that greeted her as she strutted down the hallway to her locker.

The blonde beauty stopped occasionally to make small talk, and eventually made it to her burgundy colored locker. She turned to the numbers of her combination on her lock and popped it open, dropped off some books and then pulled some out.

"Morning Buffy!" a cheerful voice behind her said. Buffy shut her locker door and turned to meet the eyes of her red headed best friend, Willow Rosenberg.

"Hey Wills." the girls walked off together to the courtyard to meet the rest of the group, happily chatting on the way. The two finally reached a big oak tree where their group of friends resided and sat down with them under the provided shade.

"Hey guys, what's the what?" Buffy greeted, and sat next to her bleach-blonde haired cousin William "Spike" MacClay.

"Hey Buffy. Willow," mumbled Riley Finn while he scribbled down his homework quickly before the bell rang, "Hey Willow? What was the answer for number five to Mrs. Peterson's homework?"

She looked up from the magazine that their model-looking brunette friend, Cordelia Chase was showing her and replied, "It's on page 105, second paragraph."

"Thanks," the blonde haired, blue eyed teenager said while turning the pages searching for the answer. As soon as Riley jotted down the answer, the first bell rang, signaling that first period was beginning.

"And so it begins," Buffy stated unenthusiastically. They all stood up and Buffy linked arms with Willow and made their way to first period Anatomy. Cordelia fell in step with them in proud strides, while Riley and Spike went in the opposite direction since their class was in a different hallway.

It was ten minutes into the class and the teacher, Mrs. Kumat was lecturing on the day's lesson.

"Now turn to page 112 and-" there was a knock on the door cutting off Mrs. Kumat in mid-sentence. The red-haired aging woman huffed in frustration and looked toward the doorway, where an Asian girl stood. Mrs. Kumat walked toward the student in the doorway and her class took it as their cue to talk amongst themselves while their teacher talked to the girl.

"Class! Class!" Mrs. Kumat said after a few minutes. The students quieted down and turned to the teacher. The Asian girl was gone and 3 teenaged boys took her place.

"Thank you," Mrs. Kumat continued, "We have three new students today; Liam, Daniel, and Alexander Roarke," she gestured towards the boys huddled by the now closed doorway, "Come. Come," she waved them over to stand next to her.

The girls in the class dropped their jaws at the sight of newbies and some actually whistled and cat called. The guys rolled their eyes and mocked some of the girls.

Cordelia whispered to Buffy, "Hello salty goodnesses," and snapped fingers with her; Buffy giggled in agreement.

Two of the new boys had dark brown hair and brown eyes except that one of them was about an inch or two taller and had his hair in spikes, and the other had his hair gelled and neatly combed. The third one had a lighter shade of brown hair with a red tint, blue eyes, and was a few inches shorter that the other two. He also gelled his hair into spikes but in a different style.

The one with dark brown spikes wore a white tank top that showed he worked out and an unbuttoned black shirt with the long sleeves rolled up a bit. A black leather cuff wrapped around his right wrist and dark blue jeans and black boots dressed his lower half.

The other one with dark brown hair had baggy khakis and brown boots; a light blue sweater topped it off. He wasn't as built as the first one but he still had a good build.

The shorter one had a white t-shirt underneath a yellow, unbuttoned bowling shirt that had "Topper" sewn in red letters above the breast pocket. He had on a leather cuff like his brother but had on more bracelets that were leather and metal on both wrists. A silver chain dangled from his pocket and hooked onto his belt loop on the left side of his baggy jeans; brown boots on his feet like his other brother. There was also a stud earring pierced on each ear; a little silver hoop on top of the left ear.

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourselves," the teacher encouraged her three new students.

"Well," the tallest one started off, "I'm Liam but people call me Angel."

"Name's Oz," the short one announced.

"Oz?" Mrs. Kumat questioned, "It says right here your name is Daniel."

"It is. But that's what people call me. Oz."

"I'm Xander." the last one said and then continued since he was the more talkative out of the three, "We moved here from Orlando with our younger brother and sister and mother. And even though we don't look it, we're triplets."

"But all three yummy," a girl said out loud, making the class laugh and the three brothers blushed and laughed quietly along, embarrassed.

"Aura," Mrs. Kumat warned and raised an eyebrow at the hormone driven girl. She put her attention back on the Roarke brothers, "Triplets huh?"

"Um... Yeah," Oz spoke up.

"Who's the oldest?"

"It goes Angel, Oz, and then me," Xander explained.

"Wonderful. Well, Liam and Alexander, you can sit in that empty table in front of Buffy and Cordelia, and Daniel, you can sit next to Willow over there," she pointed to the young red headed girl in front of the class and then jotted it down on her seating chart.

Oz sat on the wooden stool and gave a small smile to Willow.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hi," she blushed.

Buffy watched as Xander and Angel made their way in front of her and Cordelia. She made eye contact with Angel and he gave her a sexy half-smile and winked before he turned his back on her and sat on his own wooden stool.

"Oh boy," she muttered under her breath, while Mrs. Kumat continued the lesson.

TBC...


	3. Surprise Surprise

"Mahal"

By: Lynn

DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!

SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.

DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/ READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

THE ROARKES

Part 2

Three long periods had come and gone until the time for lunch had finally arrived. Students scattered around the campus, enjoying their thirty minute break. The thought that the day was only half over went through most of their minds.

Over by the vending machines, Riley bent over to retrieve the can of Coke he had bought. He scrunched up his nose and grimaced when he looked at the can. 'Diet? Geez what a gip,' he thought. He sighed over dramatically, popped it open, and took a long sip of it anyway.

The minute he turned around to walk over to the lounge to join his friends, he bumped his shoulder against another person.

"Sorry," Riley apologized, quickly glancing at the guy he ran into, and then resumed his path to the lounge. Furrowing his eyebrows, he stopped in his tracks, yet again, and slowly turned around to look at the man who was staring back at him with a smirk on his face.

"Riley Finn," he said in an intimidating, yet playful, tone.

From a few yards away, Riley's friends watched the interaction between the two men curiously, wondering what was about to happen. When Riley stepped closer to the dark haired guy, they all straightened up in their seats, expecting for a brawl to happen. It was a big surprise to them when, instead of punches being exchanged, there was a hug.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were kidding when you said you were moving here," Riley said to Angel when they released each other from the manly hug. They hadn't seen each other in over a year.

"No joke. Mom thought it would be good for us to move to a small town like this. Also, she wanted to be closer to family."

"So, where's the rest of the herd?" he said, referring to Angel's siblings.

"Well, Connor and Jessica are around here somewhere; I think they're in that quad thing, and Oz and Xander, they're-"

"Right behind ya, Captain America," came a new voice from behind Riley. He turned his head slightly to see it was Xander, his brother, Oz, was not far behind.

Riley greeted them with a hug as they stepped up next to him. He raised an eyebrow at Xander when he saw the Twinkies and root beer in his hand.

"I see you're still functioning on sugar, Xander," Riley commented.

"It's a good way to live," he replied, shoving his last Twinkie in his mouth to emphasize his point.

He shook his head in amusement and turned his attention toward Oz. "Hey Oz. You're hair's back to its original color."

Oz nodded and said, "For now."

Riley chuckled slightly. "When'd you guys get here?"

"Yesterday afternoon," Xander answered, "I'm surprised your mom didn't say anything to you, because the first thing our mom did when we got here was call her."

"I guess she figured one of you would call me," he shrugged, "Anyways, come with me. I'll introduce you to my friends."

Once they reached the lounge, Riley pointed to each of his companions individually, "That's Willow, Buffy, Cordelia, and Spike." Willow gave a friendly smile and Buffy waved. Cordelia smiled flirtatiously, while Spike just nodded and grunted in greeting.

"Guys, this is Angel, Xander and Oz. My cousins."

TBC...


	4. What do you think?

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 3

"Cousins?" Spike inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup."

"Wait a minute," he looked at the three girls he sat with, "Are these the quote 'really hot, drool worthy' triplets that got you girls' panties in a twist?" They gasped in embarrassment and shot the platinum haired teenager killer glares, and he received a swift slap on the arm from Cordelia.

"Hey," he exclaimed, and while he rubbed the sore spot on his arm he went back to talking to the new guys. "You three don't look like triplets," he commented.

"We looked more alike when we were younger," Angel returned.

Buffy bit her lip to hide her broad smile of excitement when Angel took a seat on the couch next to her. He was so close to her that their thighs were touching. She felt the goose bumps rise on her skin from the contact.

Angel wasn't faring any better. To him, Buffy was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Her eyes were wide and expressive, with a really good mixture of two different colors; he couldn't tell whether they were blue or green. Her golden hair fell past her shoulders and reached to the middle of her back. They were done in soft waves and Angel had to stop himself from reaching out to feel the silky texture of her hair. She had on tight low rider jeans and silky red tank top that had a droopy neckline, and she was getting sexier by the second to Angel.

Oz sat next to a perky Willow who blushed when their gazes collided with each other and gave him a little wave. Oz thought she looked cute in her blue and green fuzzy sweater and a knee-length jean skirt, blue sneakers on her feet. She tucked her shoulder-length red hair behind her ear and nibbled on her granola bar. He always had a thing for innocent girls with unique, lovable personalities and Oz knew she was no exception to that.

While his brother was into the cute and cuddly girls, Xander was more into the fiery model types, and the long haired brunette that he took a seat next to definitely fit into that category. Xander was totally awed by Cordelia. The blue, short-sleeve shirt she wore clung to her amazing body and had a plunging neckline that showed a hint of cleavage. Her black skirt reached to the top of her knees like Willow's, and had a slit up the side; her designer shoes showing off her pedicured feet.

The three brothers were enamored by these girls and they've only been there for a day. All three of them were simultaneously thinking that they owed their mother a HUGE thank you for dragging them from all the way across the country.

"So what do you think of Sunnydale so far," Willow politely asked the new guys.

"Well…," Xander said, "It's small, I guess. Nothing much happens here does it?"

Spike smirked. "Not if you don't know what you're looking for, mate. I'm the one to hang out with if you wanna have fun."

Angel raised an eyebrow at him, "And what kind of fun are you talking about?"

"Spike's the guy that you go to for the really good parties or clubs," Buffy spoke up for her cousin.

As their lunch period dragged on, the group got to know the triplets a little better as they told them stories about their lives in Orlando.

"So do you miss your hometown," Buffy asked Angel when they all broke off into individual conversations.

Angel gazed into her sparkly eyes and put on the flirtatious grin he shot at Buffy earlier and replied with, "Not anymore."

* * *

Not far away from them, a dark brown haired girl struggled with the combination to her locker. Before her third try, she let out an exasperated sigh but then cheered to herself when she finally got it right.

She shifted her backpack onto her front side so she could put the folders she needed into the grey bag. Once she had all the stuff she needed, she returned the bag to her back and shut her locker door.

She went to turn to meet her twin brother by the stairs where she left him, but a blonde with pink platform thong sandals and a matching sundress stood in her way; two other girls right behind her.

"Whoa! Geez," the dark long haired girl jumped back in surprise. The blonde and her friends seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"Hi!" the blonde chirped.

"Um..Hi," she responded awkwardly.

"You're the new girl," Blondie pointed out, the girl in question nodded wordlessly with a tight lipped smile, "I'm Melody Kendall."

"Jessica Roarke," the new girl introduced herself.

"That's Juniper and Penelope," she said , pointing to the two snotty looking girls behind her. Juniper being another blonde in a short khaki skirt and a yellow top, and Penelope was a brunette in tight glittered jeans and a pink peasant shirt.

Melody looked her up and down. The girl had on khaki capri pants with a black belt covered with silver studs. The form-fitting black collared shirt she wore was buttoned up half way so the white camisole she had on underneath shown. To top it all off, she had on black and white Chuck Taylors that looked brand new. "I like your style. I mean, I personally wouldn't wear it, but on you… it works."

Jessica raised her eyebrows, not sure how to take that. "Umm… thanks?"

"I think you have lots of potential," Juniper and Penelope went around their "leader" and stood on either side of Jessica, causing her to become a little paranoid, "That's why I'm going to let you join our exclusive club, which means you get to sit with us during lunch."

The girl took a step back and tried to politely get out of the situation, "As great as that sounds, I actually gotta meet up with somebody right now. So, um, rain check?"

Dawn Summers had turned a corner in one of the Sunnydale high school hallways when she saw that the sophomore ditz and her cronies had surrounded the new girl. She rolled her eyes when she heard the offer that Melody gave to her and decided to save the poor girl who obviously didn't want to hang out with them.

"Hey Mel," Dawn said with false sweetness, "If you're trying to recruit another person into your cult of the mindless, I wouldn't bother… She's not a whore and actually has her own personality."

The three girls gasped and shot her dirty looks, while Jessica tried to hide her laughter. It became harder to contain them when Melody tried to spit out a comeback but failed horribly. With one last glare shot at the smug looking Dawn, Melody huffed and snapped her fingers to signal her friends to follow as she stomped down the hall.

Finally, Jessica released the giggles she was holding in. "Thanks man," Jessica said to Dawn, "That was great. I could never do something like that. I'm too nice."

"It's no problem," Dawn dismissed with a wave of her hand, "It's not that hard to talk to her like that. No one really likes her anyway. It's sad, but she deserves it, the way she walks around town like she's the goddess of the earth. She's just like her sister Harmony. She's a senior like my sister." She walked alongside Jessica as she went to the spot where she originally wanted to go but was unluckily interfered.

"I'm Dawn Summers by the way."

"Jessica Roarke," she smiled and then flipped her long wavy hair over her shoulders. The two instantly clicked and chatted as they trotted through the halls.

They were almost at their destination when Dawn suddenly stopped them both in their tracks.

"What?" Jessica wondered, her dark brown eyes looked at Dawn in confusion.

"Don't look, but over there is one of the cutest guys ever."

"Where?" Jessica went to look but was abruptly stopped by a frantic Dawn.

"I said don't look!"

Jessica rolled her eyes and ignored Dawn's demands. She saw the boy Dawn spotted and broke out in a smirk.

"You mean him over there?" she pointed over at a tall, skinny boy leaning patiently on the metal railing, watching as students walked by. His brown hair was cut at an angle to start just below his eyes and went down to brush the base of his neck. He wore a dark green short-sleeve t-shirt over a white long-sleeved one. He also had on baggy denim jeans with black Vans sneakers.

"Yes," she fervently confirmed, "Do you think he's cute?"

She looked at her new friend as if she spontaneously grew another head, "Pfft. Yeah right," she scoffed and then commented sarcastically, "Whoohoo. What a hottie." She returned to her normal voice and asked, "Should I go over there and get him?"

"No! Jessica! Don't!"

Jessica once again ignored her and stated, "I think I'll go over there." She turned on her heels and pretended not to hear Dawn's protests.

Dawn watched as the boy broke out in a smile as Jessica approached him. They exchanged a few words and Jessica pointed to Dawn, the boy's crystal blue eyes connecting with hers dead on. She stood in shock for a moment and then she whimpered as the two advanced toward her. She quickly ran her hands through her long brown hair and smoothed out her lilac V-neck shirt and jeans. She tried to appear cool and collected when Jessica and the tall boy neared.

"H-hi," Dawn stuttered and smiled, mentally kicking herself.

"Hey," the boy greeted, "I'm Connor," surprising Dawn, he finished with, "Jessica's brother."

"Your bro-brother?" Dawn squeaked.

"One of them anyways," Jessica admitted, "he's my twin brother actually. Our older brothers are triplets." She saw Dawn raise her eyebrows at what she had just said, "I know. Weird right?"

"We all have this theory that our mom OD'd on fertility pills," Connor joked. "She denies it, but we all know the truth." He smiled at Dawn and Jessica noticed the blush that formed on her cheeks.

"I-if you wanna eat lunch with me and my friends we eat in the quad over here," Dawn said, trying not to make eye contact with Connor so she wouldn't embarrass herself horribly.

"Yeah, sure," Connor accepted, "Come on Jess, let's go." He and his sister then proceeded to follow Dawn down the hallway.

Making sure her twin was behind them, Jessica threw an arm around her new friend's shoulder and said quietly to her, "You know I had to do that to you, right?" Dawn glared at Jessica who was gazing back at her with laughter in her brown eyes.

"Do what?" Connor quirked an eyebrow at his younger by 4 minutes sister, overhearing Jessica's statement. Apparently, Jessica hadn't told him of Dawn's developing crush like Dawn thought.

"Nothing," Jessica answered and left it at that and Connor just shrugged it off, not really caring about delving deeper into the details.

When she was sure that Connor wasn't paying attention, Jessica whispered to Dawn, "Don't worry, he said that he thinks you're cute." At that statement, Dawn's glare morphed into a bright smile.

TBC….


	5. Family Reunion and Hooking it up

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 4

When dusk approached later on that day, Angel sat in the upstairs balcony of his new home, watching as the sun set. From where he was resting, he could see the expansive backyard with the beautiful floral garden that his mother just absolutely loved. The sun was slowly disappearing into the horizon, and changed the color of the bright blue sky to a mixture of orange, pink, and yellow. He then decided that this was his favorite area in the huge house. It was going to be his own private place for him to quietly reflect, or brood as his family would tease him about.

He had a sketch pad in his hand, and was working his charcoal pencil so he could draw out the one thing that occupied his thoughts; Buffy Summers.

It was weird, he only knew the girl for not even a day, and he was already thinking about her constantly. All that went through his mind was the way she walked, the sweet sound of her voice, the sparkle in her eyes whenever she smiled or laughed. Every little detail of her was stuck in his head all day that he decided to put it on paper.

He was so caught up in his own little world, that he didn't hear the quiet foot steps behind him.

A pair of hands landed roughly on his shoulders and a voice chirped loudly next to his ear, "Hey Angel," causing him to jump from his chair and drop his sketch pad.

He whipped around and found his little sister giggling at the fact that she had managed to scare her "fearless" brother.

"Got ya," she said in between her giggles.

"That wasn't funny," Angel growled.

"Yeah it was," Jessica replied in a sing song voice, not intimidated by him one bit. Angel just glared angrily at her in response.

"Aww," she stuck out her lower lip and talked to him in a baby voice, "I'm sowwy I scared da big, big man," she held out her arms, "Hug?"

Angel fought the urge to smile at his sister's attempt to make him laugh, which she always managed to do.

"No. Go away."

Jessica waddled closer to her brother and repeated the word 'hug' while attempting to wrap her arms around Angel. During his struggle to push her away, Angel's stern face cracked and he started to laugh. After a minute or two of their playful wrestling, Angel finally relented and brought his sister into a tight embrace.

Jessica glanced down at the floor and noticed Angel's abandoned sketchpad. "Ooh," she said, leaving his arms to swipe the sketchpad before he could snatch it away from her, "Who's this?"

She promptly turned her back to Angel when he tried take back his drawing, and ducked away whenever he attempted to grab it from her.

"She's pretty," she commented. She then smiled mischievously when she decided to tease him. She turned the sketchpad around so the charcoal drawing of Buffy faced the artist and wiggled it in front of her.

"Angel has a girlfriend. Angel has a girlfriend," she sang and squealed when he lunged for her. After they went around the balcony a few times, Angel finally managed to catch her and tickled her to the ground.

They were both panting and still laughing on the ground when they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. They turned their matching brown eyes to see the woman they got their coloring from leaning in the doorway with a raised eyebrow and a grin on her face.

"I knew something like this would happen if I sent Jessica up here to get you," Isabella Roarke stated. She watched as they rose up from the floor and dusted themselves off. "Go wash up. Our guests should be here soon."

"Guests?" Angel questioned.

"Oh yeah," Jessica said, "I was supposed to come here and tell you to wash up because Auntie Emily, Uncle George, and Riley coming for dinner." She smiled brightly at them and then skipped off into the house right after kissing her mother on the cheek.

Angel shook his head and retrieved his sketchpad. "She's your daughter," he said to Isabella before following his sister into the house.

When Isabella walked by the den not long after, she found all five of her children together watching t.v. and playing pool. She gazed lovingly at them for a few a moments and walked off to the kitchen. She paused in her tracks to look over her shoulder at her kids again. She looked up towards the ceiling and smiled.

"We did good," she whispered to her deceased husband, Donovan. She blew a kiss to the sky and with unshed tears in her eyes, she continued off to the kitchen to finish cooking the dinner for her family.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Isabella suddenly found herself squealing in delight when she opened the door. She first pulled her red headed sister-in-law, Emily, into a hug and kissed Emily's husband, George, on the cheek. She gasped when she saw the handsome, sandy-haired young man that stepped behind his parents into her home.

"Riley Tanner Finn," she gave her nephew a bear hug and held the seventeen-year-old at arms length, "My, my, my... You have gotten even more handsome since last year. You've even gotten taller than Liam."

With a hint of pink appearing on his cheeks from his modesty, Riley smiled broadly at his aunt's compliments.

"Thank you Aunt Izzy. Um…Where's-" Riley's question was cut off when Isabella held up her hand.

"Don't worry. I'll get them," she turned away from the family and faced the upstairs level where she knew all her children were; hanging out in each other's rooms, "Kids," she called, "come down, they're here!"

Several pairs of feet stamping could be heard on the wooden floor and five different voices greeting their relatives rang through the huge house.

Hugs and kisses were exchanged and then like Isabella had done, George and Emily started flattering their nephews and niece with compliments.

* * *

After dinner, the reunited family disassembled around the house. The parents were in the living room, conversing happily about topics teenagers would be so bored to hear. Xander and Jessica got stuck in dish washing duty, while the four other teenagers were hanging out in the den. Connor was totally engrossed in the video game he was playing on the boys' shared PS2, ignoring everything around him. Oz sat on the couch strumming his guitar, trying to make his own song and Riley and Angel were playing a friendly game of pool.

Throughout the whole game, Angel tried to find a way to fish some information out of Riley about Buffy.

"Hey I got a question for you," Angel said while Riley was lining up his shot, "Your friend Buffy, is she seeing anyone?"

Riley grinned and straightened up when he sank in the ball he was aiming for. "I was waiting for you to ask me that."

Angel raised his eyebrows, "Why do you say that?"

"Because," Riley took another shot, but this time it missed the pocket and bounced off the wall, "I saw the way you were looking at her during lunch and how you were flirting with her. Actually, if it wasn't you that asked me about Buffy, I was thinking it would've been Oz asking about Willow or Xander about Cordy."

At this, Oz stopped playing with his guitar and turned his attention to his brother and cousin.

"Well, then, are you going to answer my question?"

"No, she's not. In fact, all three of them are single."

Angel grinned happily and exchanged looks with his red haired brother at this information, "That's good to know."

While Angel was reveling in his happiness, Riley stared at him warily, to which his cousin noticed.

"What," Angel questioned his look.

Riley broke his stare and cleared his throat, "Oh, um, nothing."

Angel quickly realized what Riley was thinking and frowned deeply. "Riley, I'm not like that anymore," he told the sandy-haired male. He was speaking of the notorious reputation Angel gained two years ago as a "Love 'em and Leave 'em" type. It was one of the many dreadful things he did during those long, dreadful months, and was a phase that no one in the family particularly liked to talk about.

Oz remained silent as he watched the scene before him, and Connor had actually torn himself away from the PS2 to see what was going on.

"I know," Riley said in a tone that Angel thought wasn't totally sincere, "It's just that…"

"You're protective of her," Angel concluded and Riley nodded.

"She's special. I just don't wanna see her hurt."

"I understand that, but believe me, I won't go back to that person I became two years ago. I've learned from my mistakes."

Riley nodded in acceptance to his declaration.

After a moment, Angel tilted his head and gazed at Riley curiously. "You went out with her," he stated more than asked.

"Yeah, for a few months until we both realized that we were better off as just friends."

"Oh, um, if it's too awkward for you, then I could just forget about dating her," Angel offered, but internally hoped that his cousin would refuse his proposal.

"No, it's okay. Really. It's water under the bridge. It worked out for the best, you know," Riley honestly said, much to Angel's relief.

At that time, Xander walked into the room with Jessica hitching a ride on his back.

"Hey, hey happy people," Xander greeted, "What'd we miss?"

With his eyes back to the t.v. screen in front of him, Connor said, "Angel wants to date Riley's ex-girlfriend, three girls that you three seem to like are up for the taking, Angel's not going to be the jerk-off he was before, and I just beat your high score."

"What," Xander exclaimed. He none too gently dropped his sister to the floor and jumped the back of the couch so he landed next to Connor and scowled at the screen, "That's not possible!"

Riley bent over the back of the couch and said to Xander, "Cordelia's single, man. Don't you think that's great?"

Not even sparing his cousin a glance, he waved his hand in dismissal. "Yeah, yeah, it's awesome. Connor, how in the hell did you do that!"

TBC…


	6. Invitation

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 5

Buffy skipped down the wooden stairs of her home to make her way to the kitchen. Her blonde curls bounced as she walked down the steps, her black boots clicking on the wood.

She entered the kitchen to find her mother, Joyce Summers, leaning forward on the kitchen island, the newspaper spread out before her on white tiles. Her father was doing much the same thing, but sitting in the chair by the kitchen table.

"Morning," Buffy greeted, going to the pantry and yanking out a bagel.

Rupert Summers, or Giles, looked up at his older daughter, "Good morning Dear," her British father responded, "How are you?"

After slicing the bagel in half, she popped the two pieces into the metal toaster.

"Great," she answered while grabbing the strawberry cream-cheese from the refrigerator. As soon as the bagel sprung back up she quickly threw it on a small plate, and took a place next to Giles. While she spread the pink cream cheese on one slice, her mother spoke up and asked, "Is your sister up?"

Before Buffy could utter a word, the girl in question stepped into the kitchen saying, "Present," and made a beeline for the fridge.

Joyce abandoned her paper and walked over to where Buffy was munching on the pink frosted bagel slice. She swiftly swiped the other half and took a bite. Her daughter glared at her but chose not to say anything.

Glancing at her watch after her last bite of the bagel, Buffy said, "Mmm, Dawnie, we have to go."

Dawn polished off her bowl of Frosted Flakes and placed it in the sink. She followed her sister's actions of kissing their parents on the cheeks and walking out the door to Buffy's silver Lancer.

* * *

'I miss my car,' Angel thought to himself as he drove his mother's new champagne colored SUV to school. Oz was in the passenger seat, nodding his head to the beat of the classical rock song blasting from the speakers, while Xander, Jessica, and Connor were in the backseat messing with each other to see who could annoy each other the most.

This morning, the Roarke kids had to take Isabella to her job at Sunnydale Memorial Hospital since they only had one car to go around in. Angel's Plymouth convertible, Oz's beloved beat up van, and Xander's Camry were still being shipped from Orlando and they were all waiting somewhat patiently for their vehicles.

They pulled into the senior parking lot of the school, and jumped out of the car. As soon as they started to get out, Angel, Oz, and Xander were ambushed by Harmony Kendall and company; there were about 6 of them in all. Figuring Melody Kendall would fill their Kendall quota for the day, Connor and Jessica stealthily slipped away, not wanting to know who was worse. Xander and Oz managed to successfully detangle themselves from the many girls that flocked them. Angel was the bigger ladies' man out of the three of them, and it was just his luck that he would be the one to be stuck with the mob of man hungry girls.

Putting up a front, Angel smiled and nodded when the timing was right, fooling the girls with the idea that he actually wanted to be there and enjoyed their company. To be truthful, Angel couldn't stand to be around these types of girls that were desperate for attention and had air for brains. As shallow as it sounded, the only thing appealing to him was their looks. Knowing that these girls wouldn't leave him alone, he did his best to go with the flow and try to tune them out.

* * *

Pulling up a couple parking spaces away, Buffy spotted the group of girls that were usually Cordy and her followers in a tight circle, in front of an open car door.

"Wonder what all the fuss is about," Buffy muttered to Dawn.

Shrugging her shoulders, Dawn gathered up her backpack and books from the backseat, and suggested, "Harmony found a shiny new penny?"

Buffy giggled at her little sister's comment, and shook her head while also gathering up her stuff.

The two sisters said their short goodbyes and went their separate ways. Dawnie strayed off to find her new friends, and Buffy, her curiosity getting the better of her, went to the girls that were all tangled together.

She got the attention of a brunette, Thea, who didn't seem as interested as the others and asked what they were all interested in. Buffy was shorter than most of the girls, so she wasn't able to see over their heads.

"Oh, just one of the new hottie boys, Angel. They're all trying to get a piece of him by throwing themselves at him. Not that I blame them, he is one fine piece of ass, but I am so totally loyal to Brandon. You know, the star of the track team," she bragged while smacking on big wad of gum.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks Thea," Buffy dismissed. She turned and took a glimpse through a sliver of a gap between two of the girls.

What she saw was Angel sitting in the driver's seat of the car while shamelessly flirting and flashing a charming smile.

Out of the corner of his eye, Angel saw a new blonde join the group and then suddenly leave a second later. He tore his brown eyes away from the girls in front of him to see who it was and a genuine smile graced his face when he quickly realized that it was Buffy. He finally detangled himself from the girls and tried to catch up with the blonde he actually liked.

Buffy turned away with a frown on her face. For some reason, it bothered her to see Angel flirting with other girls. She heard her name being called, so she turned herself back around, whipping her blonde curls over her right shoulder in the process. The frown on her face turned into one of her beautiful grins when she met the gorgeous brown eyes.

"Buffy. Hey," Angel greeted with the half-smile that he knew melted girls heart.

"Hi Angel. I see you made some new friends." The two started walking slowly side by side to the campus.

"Oh. Yeah," Angel said with an uncaring tone.

"Hmm... You seem excited," Buffy teased, "Friendly much?"

Angel just chuckled in response, and then a bout of silence came between them.

"So are you going to the Bronze tonight," Buffy attempted to start out as a conversation.

"The Bronze?" he asked, confused.

"No one's told you about it yet," Angel shook his head negatively, "Well, it's a club where all the teenagers of Sunnydale gather. We're all going tonight if you and your brothers wanna join us."

"Sure. I mean I can't speak for Xander and Oz, but I might make an appearance."

* * *

At the end of the school, Willow and Buffy sauntered down the hallways to her car. They were going to meet up with Cordelia in the parking lot so they can all go together to the Espresso Pump before heading off to their individual homes. The sound of Buffy's name being called stopped the girls from going any further. They both turned to see who wanted Buffy's attention, and was graced with the presence of the youngest Summers.

"Hey Dawnie," Buffy said, "Ready to go?"

"Actually Buff, I'm going to my friend's house so I'm not gonna go home with you."

While fishing in her backpack for her keys, Buffy asked Dawn, "Does Mom and Dad know?"

The light haired brunette held up the silver colored flip phone she held in her hand, "I just called Dad a few moments ago. Can you pick me up at six before dinner? Mom's stuck at the gallery and there was some kind of weird book shipment situation at the store, so Dad's swamped."

Buffy sighed, "Where?"

"It's the street across from Cordy's. Anderson? It's the fifth house on the right. I gotta go. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Bye Dawn," Buffy and Willow said as the fifteen-year-old scampered off down the hall and disappeared within the river of teenagers.

* * *

Later on that day, Buffy arrived at the house that Dawn instructed her to go to at their agreed time. The house she pulled up to screamed the word rich with it's huge size and, of course, location.

She walked up to the cream colored house and climbed up the stairs of the porch to ring the doorbell. As she waited, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back toward the beautiful white French doors while gazing at the sky which was dimming from the day's brightness.

"Buffy?" questioned a familiar voice.

She quickly faced back to the doorway and was surprised to find Angel Roarke standing there. His feet were bare and the blue button-up shirt he wore today was now untucked from his jeans wide open, giving her a perfect view of the muscular torso. She couldn't help but stare in awe.

Quickly regaining her composure, the blonde finally found her words, "Angel? You live here?"

With an amused grin, Angel leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms, "Apparently," he teased, "Are you Dawn's sister?"

"Yeah. Where is she?"

"In the den playing pool. Come on, I'll take you." Angel opened the door wider and stepped aside, letting Buffy in.

After he shut the door, Buffy followed closely behind as he made his way through the mahogany floored and white walled front room and into a white carpeted living room with cream walls. On their way, they passed a green tiled kitchen and Buffy spotted a middle-aged woman scurrying around the kitchen, busily cooking. She had shoulder length brown hair and wore a white apron over a white t-shirt and black pants. Buffy guessed that, that was Mrs. Roarke. She was pretty, and in no way could she believe that she had five kids, not to mention both were multiple births.

The living room had a few card board boxes scattered about the area. Black couches and love seats were sat in front of a fire place. Voices could be heard from an interlocking room on the other side.

The voices got louder as they went through an archway and came into another mahogany floored room, but was painted dark blue. In there, they found Dawn, Connor, and Xander gathered around a pool table, each holding a cue stick. Jessica and Oz were lounging on the gray couch in front of the TV, idly flipping through channels.

When they noticed the newcomer in the room, Xander suddenly announced, "Why if it isn't the beautiful and illustrious Buff." He rounded the table to throw an arm around the blonde's shoulder, "What brings you here today?"

Buffy smiled at the playful goofiness of Xander and pointed towards Dawn, "I'm here to pick my sister up."

Dawn set her cue stick on the rack against the wall, picked up her backpack that was next to the rack, and went to Buffy's side, followed by Jessica and Connor.

"Hi Buffy. I'm Jessica," the young brunette with braided pigtails introduced herself. For some reason, she was smirking at Buffy and an annoyed looking Angel, and it certainly confused Buffy.

The boy beside Jessica flashed a grin that looked amazingly like Angel's, "Hey. I'm Connor. I assume you already know my brothers."

"Yeah. We hang out and have classes together," she ticked her eyes over to the black and white clock hung up on the wall, "Sorry we can't stay long. We have to get going now."

"I'll walk you to the door," Angel offered. He escorted the two with his sister to the front door.

"Thanks guys. I'll see you tomorrow Jess," Dawn said and snapped fingers with Jessica.

A new voice joined them in the front room, "Oh Dawn. Are you leaving now?" The four turned to see the middle-aged brunette woman that Buffy saw in the kitchen a few minutes ago.

"Yes Mrs. Roarke. Thank you."

"Well it was a pleasure meeting you," the woman faced Buffy, "You must be Dawn's older sister."

"Hi, I'm Buffy," Buffy held out a hand and gave the older woman's a shake with a smile.

"Well it's nice to meet you Buffy. Are sure you two don't want to stay for dinner?"

"Oh, thank you Mrs. Roarke, but our mom and aunt already cooked something for dinner," Buffy politely turned down.

"That's okay. Maybe next time then. Well, it was nice meeting you girls," Isabella pulled them individually into a friendly hug, "Feel free to drop by anytime you like."

"Will do. Thank you Mrs. Roarke." With one last smile, the older woman left the teenagers to head back to the kitchen.

"So I'll see you at the Bronze later?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Yeah. Xander, Oz, and I will be there," he responded.

"Great. Well I'll see ya," she gave a little wave and then her and Dawn headed off to her Lancer and drove off.

The moment Angel closed the doors after the girls left, Jessica began the teasing that Angel knew that was coming.

"She's the girl in your drawing," she exclaimed, "You like Dawn's sister!"

"Don't even start Jessica," Angel warned as they headed back to the den together.

"Oohlala! Angel has a date with Buffy." She playfully sighed while placing her hands on her heart and batting her eyelashes, "It's a dream come true."

"It's not a date Jessica. Now stop."

She dropped her voice down a couple of octaves to mock Angel and in between giggles said, "Oh Buffy… Love me… Marry me… Be my Baby Mama."

She heard Angel growl and saw him lunge for her. She darted out of his reach and ran off with Angel at her heels.

In a fit of laughter, Jessica squealed, "Mommy," and rushed off to find sanctuary from her brother.

TBC…


	7. The Bronze

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 6

Buffy and Dawn drove several blocks to Revello Drive, and the whole way Dawn constantly rambled on and on about how cool the Roarkes were.

"... and Connor and Xander showed me the half-pipe they're starting to build in the backyard. It is SO cool. They even showed me some tricks they can do. Xander wasn't so great, he kept falling and stuff. But Connor... wow! He's amazing," with a dreamy look upon her face, Dawn stopped to sigh.

Buffy smiled knowingly at her sister. She knew the look on the young girl's face all to well from her own experience. Dawnie was developing a new crush. Yet another to add to her ever-growing pile.

"Do I sense that 'wow' can be interpreted in different ways?" Buffy teased.

Dawn blushed and admitted sheepishly, "Maybe."

Buffy shook her head, the smirk on her face glued in place, "Dawnie, Dawnie, Dawnie. What number crush is this?"

"Hey! This one is different from the other guys I've liked."

"How!" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Well, he's smart, funny, athletic... and he's SO cute," she gushed while they stepped into their home.

"Oh yes of course, as opposed to Danny who was smart, Josh, who was smart and athletic, and Peter who was smart, athletic, AND funny. But all three of them 'SO cute'?"

"Who's cute?" a new voice chimed in.

"Hi Tara," Buffy hugged their cousin, as did Dawn "and Dawn's crush," she answered.

The older blonde cocked her eyebrow at her fifteen-year-old cousin, "Oh, I see. Ronnie right?"

"No a new one," Buffy answered again in a mockingly amazed tone, "Connor."

Tara wrinkled her nose, "Connor Jones?" She was thinking of the kid that they knew when they were younger. He had crooked teeth and bad hygiene. He was a little walking pervert who used to think flashing his penis every chance he got and make the girls scream in terror with his gross habits were really charming qualities. It was safe to say that things didn't really change much since they were kids.

Dawn looked disgusted at the sound of that name, "Oh no, ew. God that's just insulting. I have standards you know! She's talking about Connor ROARKE. He just moved here from Orlando."

Tara's next comment was interrupted when her younger brother, the lovable, yet annoying, platinum blonde, Spike entered the room, and commented while

chewing on a baby carrot, "What's with the new boys getting the girls all hot and bothered? I don't see anything special about them."

"Boys?" Tara questioned, "There's more than one?"

"Four and one girl," Buffy told her. She started walking to the kitchen with her cousins and sister, "The three oldest are me and Spike's age."

"Triplets, huh?"

"Yup. But they don't really look alike...at all actually…Anyways, Connor has a twin,

Jessica. She's friends with Dawn."

She ended her sentence when she entered the kitchen where her aunt, uncle and parents were gathered. Greta MacClay was chopping vegetables on the kitchen island, while her sister stirred something in a pot on top of the heated stove. Robert MacClay sat on one of the stools and did his best to help by "supervising." Giles was sitting next to Robert, assisting him with the important task of occasionally snatching bits of food just like Spike did moments ago. Once in a while they would get caught and get a light slap on the hand from their significant others.

"Hey!" Buffy greeted the adults. She gave each adult a kiss on the cheek and made quick small talk before trotting upstairs with her cousins on her heels. Dawn stayed back for a little while, taking a seat on her father's lap, basking in the attention she was receiving from the grown-ups.

* * *

"So are you going to Bronze it tonight with us, or do you have lots of college work to do?" Buffy asked Tara. She, Tara, and Spike were lounging on Buffy's bed; Spike and Buffy leaning against the metal headboard as Tara sat cross-legged in front of them.

Tara was a year older than her brother and cousin. As a freshman attending UC Sunnydale, she lived in the dorms, but still managed to make time for her family and friends on the nights she wasn't swamped with her studies.

"Yeah, I'm going. I have nothing important to do tonight," Tara said with a shrug of her

shoulders.

"Great! Oh, you'll get to meet Angel, Oz, and Xander. You'll love 'em," Buffy commented.

* * *

Later on that night, when Oz, Xander, and Angel arrived with Riley at the Bronze, introductions were made between Tara and them, and as Buffy said, Tara took an immediate liking to them.

At the moment, Oz, Willow, and Tara were sitting at the table talking, while Riley, Spike, Buffy, and Angel were playing a game of pool next to them. Xander and Cordelia were off on the dance floor, moving together to the fast beat of the music blasting on the speakers.

After the cue ball bumped the eight ball into the corner pocket, Angel straightened back up with a smug smile on his face.

Buffy gave Angel a high five and threw an arm around his waist while he put his over her shoulders; they faced their opponents.

"Haha! We win," Buffy smiled triumphantly, rubbing victory in Riley and Spike's faces who just scowled at her in return. Laughing, she shot out her hand towards them, palm up, "Pay up." Angel shot out his hand, too, imitating Buffy.

Unhappily, Riley and Spike dug in their wallets and fished out the money they owed Buffy and Angel, handing it over dejectedly.

"Thank you," Buffy snatched the money from their hands and gave Angel his half.

Hearing the music change to a soft slow song, Angel took Buffy's hand in his and nodded to the dance floor, "Join me in a victory dance, Partner?"

"Love to."

She followed him willingly to the mass of dancing couples finding their own little spot where they can dance. She went into the arms and rested her head onto his chest. She couldn't help but feel comfortable and safe with him.

"You know, we make a great team. They should call us Bonnie and Clyde," Buffy smiled up at Angel.

Angel chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I could see it now... Us teaming up and wreaking havoc in all pool halls nationwide. They'll never see us coming."

Buffy laughed with Angel and then they returned to their peaceful moment.

A little while later, Angel took a nervous breath, "Um... Buffy?" The blonde lifted her head connecting her blue-green eyes with his brown ones. He didn't know where this nervousness came from. When it came to pursuing girls, nervous was a foreign word to him.

"I-I was just wondering...," he broke their eye contact, trying to gather up his courage to ask her out, "Since, you know, we make a great team and all, that we should-"

At that very moment, the DJ decided to change the slow song to a loud, upbeat tempo song, cutting off Angel's question.

To make it worse, his DARLING brother, Xander asked if he could take Buffy out of his hands so they could, in his words, "get down."

Buffy looked at Angel, silently asking him if he minded. Not showing how upset he felt, Angel gave her a reassuring smile and yelled over the music, "Thanks for the dance."

While he walked back to the tables where the gang was, he muttered to himself, "I was just wondering if you would go out with me." He shook his head and ran his hand through his brown spikes.

Plopping down into the chair next to Oz, inwardly berating himself, he joined the conversation between Tara, Willow, and Spike.

TBC…


	8. Dance Dance Dance

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 7

"Ew! Connor no!" Angel heard his little sister shriek from the kitchen as soon as he entered his home. He had just returned from a grueling day of football practice and all he wanted to do was take a steaming-hot shower and then welcome blissful sleep.

Exhaling a deep breath of exhaustion, he threw his keys down onto the small, antique bureau by the door, and dropped his bags and books at the end of the stairs, before  
staggering off to the kitchen.

It was the tenth of November and the Roarkes had been in the little town of Sunnydale for almost two months; things were going great. With their charismatic personalities and connections with their quite popular cousin, Riley, the Roarke children had no problem fitting in.

Even after two months, Angel still had yet to ask Buffy out. He had tried five times after his initial attempt at the Bronze, but the question was always intercepted. Feeling defeated, for the time being at least, Angel decided to keep his feelings to himself and to settle for the flirting relationship that he and Buffy shared.

In other news, his brothers seemed to have more luck in the dating department than he did. Xander and Cordy started dating a month earlier and Willow and Oz had just recently started to date each other.

With the other people of the gang, Spike was still as single as they came, satisfied with just dating as many girls as humanly possible. Riley, being the sweet, shy guy that he was, was having trouble approaching the beautiful Samantha Thomas, who was a member of the drill team. Tara on the other hand, hadn't found anyone suitable to fit her needs yet, but she was happy just being with herself.

Dawn still harbored a crush on Connor, upset that he hit on almost every girl he met that wasn't her. Basically, Connor was thick-headed and oblivious to the fact that Dawn liked him, which was obvious to everybody else around him. Jessica caught the attention of any boy that she passed, causing her protective brothers to keep a close eye on her.

Angel joined the football team with Riley, and became Sunnydale High's all new starting running back. After joining, he became close to one of his teammates, Charles Gunn, or just Gunn. He and his girlfriend, Winifred "Fred" Burkle, were the new additions to the tight circle.

Angel rolled his shoulders and rubbed his aching muscles as he entered the kitchen.

"Please!" Connor pleaded with his sister as she grabbed a can of soda from the black refrigerator.

"No," Jessica firmly answered, sitting next to him at the kitchen table.

"Come on, I'm your brother," he persisted, "Please!"

"Hey guys," Angel made his presence known, taking a seat by his siblings.

"Hi Angel," the twins simultaneously greeted.

"Please," Connor continued with his begging.

"What does he want now?" Angel smirked, stealing a sip from Jessica's drink.

She rolled her eyes, "He wants me to hook him up with Juniper Fields."

Angel's nose scrunched up in obvious disgust. "That chick hangs out with Harmony's little sister," he asked. When his sister's nod confirmed his suspicion, he continued teasingly, laughing softly. "Aw man, why would you wanna go out with her?"

"She interests me. I like hanging out with her," Connor lied through his teeth.

"That's bull shit Connor," Angel exclaimed, "I've heard how easy she is. You just want a piece of ass don't you?"

He opened his mouth to come up with another excuse but then thought, 'Aw screw it!'

"So what if I do?" he threw back. Both Jessica and Angel scoffed and shook their dark haired heads, "And I don't see why you're talking so much shit about her, Jess. She's YOUR friend you know."

"Um, correction… She only WANTS to be my friend, and that's only because of how much money we have and to get close to my brothers," Jessica defended herself.

"All the more reason to hook me up with her," Connor concluded and Jessica rolled her eyes in response.

"Where's everybody?" Angel changed the subject, trying to keep the peace, not in the mood to hear the petty bickering.

"Xander's working, Mom got a call in, and Oz is at band practice," Connor answered, "It's just us for dinner tonight."

Xander had just started at his job at the music and entertainment store in the mall; he worked in the arcade section. Oz's new band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, was number one in Sunnydale, everybody wanted to book them. As for Isabella, she was being the busy little doctor she was and making a living for her children. The hospital staff loved her, as did her patients.

"Pizza?" he then suggested.

"Sure," Angel got up with a groan and started to make a journey to his room.

"What do you want on it?" Jessica asked as he walked away.

"The works," Angel called over his shoulder, slowly climbing the steps, leaving his stuff and deciding to bring it to his room later.

He was so glad that he didn't have to work today. He was dead tired, and not to mention achy. He didn't think he would be a very good employee if he fell asleep at the register, or took his time walking to a product that the customer couldn't find. He and Oz worked at an auto part and repair shop, most of the times they would work in the store, helping a customer or doing inventory, other times they would get down and dirty working on cars. They both loved it there, but like most normal people, he had to take a break.

He didn't even have to work tomorrow, neither did Oz or Xander. It was their birthday and their mom and friends wanted to do something special for the Roarke triplets. During the afternoon hours, Isabella was throwing a barbeque for close friends and family. Then later, the teenagers would take over and move the party to an abandoned warehouse Spike's connections found and have a bigger, wilder party with the whole school and whoever they would bring. Of course the grown ups didn't know of the big blow out. They thought it was just a private party that was going to be celebrated at the Bronze.  
But, of course, what the parents didn't know wouldn't kill them…

* * *

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, there were no clouds in the sky and the California sun shone brightly.

In the Roarkes' backyard, groups of people laughed and talked joyously as they celebrated the eighteenth birthday of Angel, Oz, and Xander. Assortments of food and drinks were laid out on a long table, and music blared from a boom box that sat on the porch.

Among the people there were the Summers family, who Isabella formed a close bond with, the MacClay family, the Finn family, and Gunn and Fred. Some of Isabella's co-workers and their families and friends she made over the months were there as well.

The rapturous sound of merengue music came from the speakers of the boom box. Angel smiled as he felt the hand of his sister pull at his own, urging him to dance with her.

Buffy watched from her seat at the table as everybody paired off and started dancing to the lively music. She laughed when she saw her mom and dad, and her aunt and uncle join in and at Willow, Cordelia, Fred, and Dawn's awkward attempt to keep up with the dance. One of Isabella's co-workers' kids asked her if she would like to dance, she smiled softly and politely turned down the offer, content with just watching. The boy shrugged and moved to ask another girl that sat by him. As the couples danced, Buffy watched, impressed at how well Angel and his family danced.

She was entranced by the way Angel moved. He and Jessica smiled and laughed happily as they twisted and twirled while moving to the rhythm of the upbeat song.

Angel caught her eyes and waved her over to join in, Jessica mimicking her brother. Buffy slowly shook her head and mouthed "No way" to them, all the while smirking.

Angel, however, did not accept her refusal to dance. He whispered something in his sister's ear and the smile she wore widened and she nodded. Jessica danced over to Xander and Cordelia, who were just right next to them. Xander gladly took both girls on each hand and twirled them at the same time.

Angel strided towards Buffy and reached a hand out to her as soon as he stood in front of her.

"Come on," when she didn't take his hand, he scoffed, "Come on! It's my birthday so you have to dance with me," Angel insisted, pulling her up on her feet, dragging her to where everybody else was dancing.

"Angel, stop, no! I-I don't know how!"

"Well there's a first time for everything," he was determined for her to dance with him, "Just go with it and follow my lead. Okay?"

Buffy hesitantly nodded and did what Angel had instructed. In no time, the blonde had it down, and was dancing like she'd done it for years.

Angel twirled her in a fast spin and then pulled her to him when she was facing him again. They were both panting hard as they gazed in each other's eyes.

"S-so where'd you learn to dance like that?" Buffy broke the connection, making Angel back off a little and take her hand, leading her back to the table where their group ate.

"Well," Angel began while taking a sip of the drink he left behind, "It's just something we grew up with. My mom's dad was Puerto Rican and taught her how to dance, so she wanted to pass that down to us."

"You guys are good," she complimented him, tilting her head a bit and grinning.

"Thank you. You're really good for a beginner actually."

"What can I say? Some people just have a knack for getting things right really fast," she teased causing him to laugh and stare at her adoringly with his shimmering brown eyes.

Their passionate stare started up again and that was the moment Buffy finally realized she had actual feelings for Liam Roarke. She always felt attracted to him ever since the day they met, but now she knew that it was more than just a mere attraction.

Angel felt the need to seize the moment, so he started to leaning in to kiss her when his mom decided that, that was the time to bring out the cake and start up the happy birthday song. He got up, bringing Buffy with him to the table to stand in front of the cake with his brothers. After the three blew out the candles they looked up and saw a feminine figure with long brown hair standing in front of them.

"Did you make a wish?" the brown haired girl with dark make up asked. In response, Xander, Angel, Oz, Jessica, and Connor went around the table to attack the girl with hugs as Isabella smiled proudly. The crowd dispersed and went about their own business, leaving the regular group to observe the reunion.

Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, and Dawn couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy as the guys of their affections hugged the girl so tightly.

After introductions, the group finally learned that this girl was named Faith Jeffreys, a family friend of the Roarkes.

"What are you doing here?" Angel questioned their best friend from Orlando.

"You think I'd miss the eighteenth birthday of my favorite threesome do ya," she said, "Actually, your mom called my mom and convinced her to take a little vacation. So we hopped on a plane and flew all the way across the country to see you guys."

"How long are you here for," Connor asked while trying to get closer to her. He always had a crush on the free spirited girl.

"Just for a few days, then it's back to O-town I go."

"I'm glad you're here, Faith," Xander said and hugged his friend. He then whispered in her ear, "Oh and I'd appreciate it if you don't mention that you and I slept together. I don't think my girlfriend would like that too much."

Faith glanced in the direction where Cordelia was staring at them hotly. "Ooh. Got ya. She already looks like she wants to throw down so my lips are sealed. Now, let's cut the cake. I'm starved."

* * *

"Whoohoo!" a drunk adolescent cheered as the Dingoes rocked on later that night. He stood up on a table and dived into the cluster of people, attempting to crowd surf. That section split apart and he landed hard on his stomach with a thud; people around him pointed and laughed.

It was one in the morning and a mass of Sunnydale's youth, sixteen and up, were gathered in the abandoned warehouse.

Angel, Willow, and Faith were happily talking when Xander stumbled up to them, throwing an arm around his brother and Willow, clearly drunk.

"Now which one of you purty ladies would love to dance with the Xand-man?" he slurred, grinning goofily at all three of them.

"I bet you would," he said to Angel. In response he raised his eyebrow and then backed his face up away from Xander who got a little too close to him for his liking, his breath smelling foul from the liquor he consumed, "You, lady, are HOT!"

Faith and Willow giggled madly at the scene as Xander laughed drunkenly. "Xander, how much did you have to drink," Angel asked calmly.

Xander started to count his fingers and then looked up confused, "You know what? I really don't know. I'm thinking more than two less than twenty."

Angel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Angel...Liam... you are my brother, my BLOOD, and I just wanted to tell you... Hey Jerk-off! Hands off my sister!"

A few yards away, Jessica glared at her drunk brother angrily, clinching her jaw and her fists tightly as the cute teenaged boy she was talking to left her side.

She infuriatingly shook her dark head and stormed off in the opposite direction. Angel, Willow, and Faith winced at the youngest Roarke's expression.

"You are going to regret that Bro," Angel commented, "That is not a happy Jessica," he

sympathetically patted Xander on the back and walked off taking a gulp of the beer he had in his hand.

"I can see why," Faith added, "kid was cute." Willow just nodded in agreement.

Angel went to find his upset sister to calm her down. He knew it wouldn't be much of a challenge, one of things he loved about his sister was that she was a happy, upbeat person. She wasn't capable of holding a grudge for a long time. But even though she was a sweet, optimistic girl, revenge was her forte.

Angel felt sorry for Xander, having to not only deal with the massive hangover he knew would have in the morning, but now he had to worry about whatever evil plot that was brewing in the sixteen-year-old's head.

As he made his way through the crowd, he'd smile and thank people that greeted him a happy birthday. When he came to the end of the crowd, what he found, wasn't what he was looking for.

The smile on his face faded at the sight before him. Buffy was flirting with a guy with light brown hair that looked to be around their age.

His confidence melted when the two stood close and pressed even closer when they danced. He watched as Buffy laughed out right at something the bastard had said, and then pushed him playfully.

His hand went through his hair and he sighed in defeat, deciding that giving up on his pursuit toward Buffy was the best solution. Fate was such a freaking bitch.

He turned and walked away, bumping into a smaller form in the process. Angel quickly apologized as did the blonde girl he had run into.

"No, it's okay," they both said at the same time, laughing right after.

"Um... I'm Nina. Nina Ash." The light blonde with shiny blue eyes introduced herself.

"Angel Roarke," he replied, shaking her hand.

"Oh! You're one of Tara's friends, one the birthday boys?" Angel smiled embarrassedly and nodded, "I'm her roommate. Happy birthday."

"Thank you."

"So did you get everything you asked for?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Angel inconspicuously glanced at the beauty that was his unreachable crush and then answered, "No, not really," then he gave his charming smile to the other pretty blonde in front of him, "but it's being quickly made up for."

Nina got the hint and blushed, grinning sweetly at him.

Unbeknownst to them, hazel-blue eyes were focused on the two sadly. Buffy liked Brian, but there was something missing. She suddenly found herself comparing the chemistry of her and Brian to the chemistry between her and Angel, which turned out, not as strong. But after watching him laugh and lightly touch Tara's roommate, she knew she missed her chance. A sigh escaped her lips, but then she plastered a fake smile on her face when Brian came back with the drink she asked for.

TBC…


	9. WhooHoo!

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 8

Jessica Roarke sat Indian style on the lilac rug that partially covered the mahogany floor of her bedroom, while Connor kept her company by playing games and chatting with friends online on her computer. Black and white photos were scattered around Jessica, and an open binder of negatives was laid out in front of her while she fiddled with an old camera in her hands.

Like Angel, the youngest Roarke was an artsy type. She used to be mainly into drawing until they moved to Sunnydale. She signed up for the course just because it reminded her of her dad since it was an old hobby of his, but immediately fell in love with Photography, finding out that she was a natural at it.

After she was done loading her camera with the new roll of film, Jessica went to organizing her pictures. The girl smiled when she came across a particular photo. It was of Angel and Buffy sitting under the tree in front of the school. They were smiling happily at each other as they had a private conversation. They didn't even know that Jessica had captured the moment between the two.

'Aww...' Jessica thought, 'They're so cute together!' She was about to show her brother when the phone rang. Both of the twins reached for the silver cordless phone resting in the charger on Jessica's desk, but Jessica snatched it before Connor could even touch it.

As soon as she answered, she immediately regretted it. Her happy smile quickly melted and shifted into a look of annoyance.

"Oh, hey Melody," she greeted with false enthusiasm. When Jessica muttered her name, Connor pointed and laughed quietly at his twin, earning a kick in the shin and a few slaps which just made him laugh harder, just to piss her off.

"... and of course Juniper and Penelope. Hey guys. Wow the joys of party lines," she rolled her eyes and mouthed, "Help me," to Connor, "The mall?... I don't know if I can go... Why not? Um Connor isn't feeling well and you know how that freaky twin link goes...No," Jessica yelled in refusal for their offer to come over. She suddenly realized how desperate that sounded and quickly amended it by calmly saying, "I mean no, it's okay... EW! No Juniper. Connor does NOT need 'special treatment'!"

The said teenager looked at his sister in shock, trying to take the phone away from her so he could take back the offer to receive his "special treatment."

Jessica ended up wrestling Connor on her bed while talking on the phone, struggling to keep him at bay with her legs. At a last ditch effort, the brunette started to make static noises. "What? Chhh... I chhh ca- chhh -ear ooh chhhh...what?" then in a perfectly normal but hurried voice she said, "I'll see you guys around later ok? Bye."

The dark haired girl smirked at Connor when she hung up the phone, sticking out her tongue at him. In response, Connor took one of her pillows and hit her upside the head.

"Ow," Jessica said with a pout, picking up one of her larger stuffed animals and swung it at him. She giggled when he stumbled ungracefully to the floor. Connor looked up at his sister with a glare in his crystal blue eyes.

"Uh-oh," she mumbled before screeching and running off, Connor right on her heels. For some reason, her brothers loved to chase her like she was some sort of prey and they were the predators. They were violent ones her brothers.

They made it all the way downstairs in the dining room before Connor tackled Jessica to the floor, careful not to really hurt each other on the hard wood floor. Connor had Jessica pinned and was playfully torturing her. For a boy as skinny as him, Connor was really strong, his victim could barely move under his strong grasp.

He didn't let up until his sister begged for mercy and apologized. He jumped back up to his feet and lent a hand to Jessica, both of them panting for air and giggling.

The tall boy took a glance toward the bay window and saw an attractive blonde woman talking with Angel. Intrigued and curious, he walked over to the window to get a closer look.

"'Ey, Jess, who's that," he pointed outside to the woman.

Jessica joined his side and took a look. "Duh Connor! That's Nina." All she received from him was a look that said "And I would know who that was?" She sucked her teeth in frustration, "Nina? Tara's roommate,"she still got nothing from her brother, which just made her more frustrated, "Angel's GIRLFRIEND?"

"Ohhh...," he turned his attention back toward Nina and Angel.

"Geez Connor, they have been going out for a month. You'd think you'd notice her by now. I mean we did have dinner with her."

He furrowed his eyebrows at her and asked incredulously, "When? I don't remember her coming over for dinner."

"Last Tuesday."

Connor rolled his eyes and nudged his sister, "Stupid. I wasn't here. I was at Josh's house for dinner that night."

She thought for a moment and then suddenly remembered that he was indeed absent from the first meeting of Angel's new girlfriend.

"Oh right. Well, I guess she's nice," then she added, "she's a little weird and tries a bit too hard, but Angel seems to like her, so I guess we're stuck with her."

The twins watched as their brother talked and laughed with his girlfriend. Nina was leaning back on her car and Angel stood in front of her, his hand resting next to her on top of her blue Honda Civic. Angel then turned his head and caught the two staring at them, Nina looked too to see what got his attention off of her.

Connor and Jessica gave the couple identical innocent smiles and waves. Angel retaliated by waving his hand to shoo them away. Nina smiled sweetly at her boyfriend's siblings, giving them a little wave, doing the opposite of Angel and gesturing them to join them, thinking the two were so cute.

"You wanna go embarrass him," Connor murmured to Jessica.

Jessica looked at him as if she was shocked, "Connor that would be wrong to make Angel look like a jackass..." she smiled mischievously, "Lets' do it." With that, the two made a mad dash outside, evil ideas forming in their brown haired heads.

* * *

Dawn sighed, resting her chin on her palm, not paying attention to the excitement in front of her.

Her friend strayed her brown eyes away from the football game to look at the brooding girl. Instead of watching the game like everybody else was, she had her blue eyes focused on her brother who was sitting a several seats away with some friends. The whole gang, except for Tara who had to study for and exam, had came to the last football game of Gunn, Angel, and Riley, but had separated into different groups.

Jessica threw a piece of popcorn at her, "You're pathetic you know that?"

Dawn retorted by taking another piece of popcorn from the carton Jessica was holding and threw it back at her.

"Am not," she pouted and looked back at Connor, flirting with girls that were sitting around his crew. Dawn scowled and muttered, "Skanks."

Jessica heard her and raised one of her thin eyebrows, "Who?"

Dawn nodded over to the red head, brunette, and blonde girls poking at Connor and ruffling his hair, "Those girls by Connor. You know, Heather, Melody, and Jackie? Ugh, I hate them."

"Well Connor seems to like it," Jessica quipped and then focused back on the wide field where the teams were lined, ready to finish off the game. She started to holler proudly for the guys, adding to the noise of the crowd.

"Oh yay, the more skanks the merrier," Dawn grumbled sarcastically, still watching Connor and his friends; Melody's followers, Juniper and Penelope joining in the mix.

As her reply, Jessica growled in annoyance, taking a handful of popcorn and chucking it at her friend.

* * *

"This is fun," Willow giggled and gave her little Sunnydale High pennant a little wave, "I'm giddy!"

"I like it when you're giddy," Oz stated, rubbing his girlfriend's back.

"Yeah! Whoo," Xander and Spike cheered loudly like Jessica had done but much louder, "Go Cordy," Xander yelled at his head cheerleader girlfriend flipped and kicked high in the air in her short skirt.

Buffy eyed Xander and Spike strangely, "Guys, you do know that's there's a football game going on don't you?"

"Oh so that's what the commotion is about," Xander joked, nudging Buffy with is shoulder, getting a giggle from the golden blonde.

"Screw the game, there's hot girls with short skirts kicking high and what not," Spike commented.

Once again the hormonal eighteen-year-olds hooted and hollered for cheerleaders.

"You guys are the definition of horny teenagers," Fred said with a smirk. She waved happily at her boyfriend as he jogged from the sidelines to take his place on the field.

"So, Buffy, how are you and Brian going," Willow changed the subject.

Buffy gave a little laugh, "We're not. I'm thinking about, you know, dumping him."

"Then I say good riddance," Spike remarked taking his eyes off the pompom waving girls for a moment, "Give the dumbass the old boot and be done with it. He's such a pansy." He then winced when Buffy punched him on the shoulder.

Willow pouted, "Aww...He was cute though."

"Yeah he's so cute... Why would you dump him?" Fred questioned.

'Because he's not Angel,' she wanted to say but ended up saying, "He is, but underneath all that cuteness is annoying clingyness. I'm just glad he doesn't go to our school, he would've drove me crazy."

Suddenly the audience screamed and stood up with excitement after Riley threw the ball smoothly to Angel, and then received a hard hit to the ground. Angel caught the ball with ease, running with incredible speed to the end of the field. He managed to avoid the oncoming players trying to tackle him, by getting help from his teammates and dodging and swatting them away with much skill.

The Sunnydale High side seemed to scream even louder when Angel finally made it to the end zone, scoring the winning points. The crowd was going crazy, students and grown-ups were hollering in excitement while shaking their mini pompoms and flags of maroon and gold.

Angel's teammates charged and jumped on him, all of them roughly shoving each other in a manly way of celebrating.

Buffy, Willow, Dawn, Fred, and Jessica jumped up and down in excitement, "whooing" and "hooing" for their good friends' victory, while Connor forgot about the girls around him and cheered with his guy friends. Oz was still as calm as ever but still managed to crack a grin and clap. Xander was being his loud self and took an air horn from his baggy pants, held it high in the air and gave the button a good push. While everybody loudly applauded, Spike gloated while happily collecting his money from the people whom he made bets with.

* * *

When Riley, Angel, and Gunn were finally dismissed from the locker room along with their other teammates, they found themselves having to go through a whole bunch of people congratulating them.

After the crowd departed to go to their own cars, they soon found the whole gang gathered around Oz's van and Buffy and Cordy's cars who were conveniently parked in front of Riley and Gunn's cars.

Willow, Dawn, Jessica and Connor were sitting in the open sliding door of the van. Dawn and Jessica were turned towards each other, their hands were palm to palm as they played the slapping game.

Oz leaned casually against the side of his blue, metal baby, idly running a hand through Willow's red locks.

Spike sat in the passenger seat of Buffy's Mitsubishi Lancer, leaning on his thighs that were out of the open door way. He listened as Buffy and Fred stood in front of him and chatted.

Cordelia and Xander were making out in Cordy's cherry red Beamer, windows up and doors locked.

Connor spotted the three football players coming towards them and nudged his sister, nodding towards them. Jessica smiled and ran to the three with a squeal, jumping in the arms of Angel, the others were right on her heels. Everybody besides Xander and Cordelia that is.

"You guys were so great," congratulated Jessica, moving on to Riley and Gunn giving them an equally excited hug that she gave her brother.

After hugs and handshakes from the others, Buffy was the last one to congratulate Angel.

The spiky haired brunette smiled at the beauty, 'Kiss for the winner?' he thought of saying, but opted with stating with his arms open wide, "Doesn't the winner get some lovin' from Buffy?"

Buffy shook her head and went into his open arms. "Great game, Angel," she said.

"Thanks," Angel hugged her tighter, not wanting to let go, but eventually had to.

Both of them reluctantly left each other's embrace, but the pang that they felt was quickly amended when Angel threw his arm around Buffy's shoulders, bringing her closer to his side.

"Where's Xander and Cordelia," Angel asked the group. Everybody pointed to the expensive car of Queen C. As if on cue, Xander's air horn was heard loud and clear from the confined car. After the loud beep, the muffled and angered voice of Cordelia was heard.

Everybody laughed at the odd couple, their argument could be slightly heard through the closed windows.

Laughter still going through them, Buffy and Angel made eye contact. Their laughter died down, but smiles still graced each other's lips as they just stared and reveled in the other's beauty.

Of course, their moment was ruined, as always, when Angel's phone rang.

Angel let go of Buffy and unzipped his large gym bag to retrieve his black flip phone.

"Yeah?... Oh, hey Nina," Buffy's broad smile faded a bit when she heard the name , she sadly left Angel's side and went to stand by Willow next to Oz's van, "Hell yeah we won! Twenty to seventeen... Yeah I wish you were here, too... Ok... Ok bye."

As soon as Angel hung up, Xander had rolled down Cordelia's driver's side window and announced, "Victory party at Mason's! Let's go!"

After the various cheers of agreements, everybody went to their respective vehicles, and as corny as this sounds, to go and party their asses off.

TBC…


	10. Aftermath of partying too much

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 9

The next morning, Buffy awoke with a groan, her head was killing her. She peeked her blonde head out of the blankets that were covering her.

Through squinted eyes she looked at the room she was in, in confusion. This was so not her room. Instead of her mint striped wallpaper, decorated with butterflies and collages of pictures, the walls were painted a dark shade of blue with a white trim. Trophies, plaques, and framed photos were all around the room much bigger than hers.

Then it registered in her head, she was in Angel's room. She shot up in bed, holding the covers to her chest. Her eyes widened. Did she do something with Angel? She held in a breath and dared to take a look downwards to see if she was wearing any of her clothing. She exhaled deeply in relief when she still wore her hip hugger jeans and her cream colored peasant top. Although her blouse was in a little disarray from moving around a lot, it was good to know that it wasn't actually off. The only thing that was taken off was her boots which were neatly placed by the doorway.

She couldn't remember a thing. All she remembered was going to the party and having a good time, especially with Angel. That is, until her crush's girlfriend decided to drop by and hang all over the guy. Then, there was beer, a tequila shot game, and some extra jello shots thrown in, and the rest was a blur. She tried to let the thought go, her head hurt too much to think.

While Buffy was still trying to figure out what the hell happened, the door to the bedroom opened and in entered Angel, carrying a glass of water in one hand and a glass of some mysterious liquid in the other.

"Hey, you're up," Angel greeted, shutting the door gently with his elbow to shut out the noise coming from outside his room.

A bewildered looking Buffy turned her face towards him and automatically shot a hand to her long, blonde hair. Her mouth dropped open and she gasped when she felt that her usually tamed hair was disheveled. She immediately started to run a hand through the tangled mess to smooth it out.

Angel let out a little chuckle and walked to the bed, handing her the mysterious liquid.

"Calm down. You look fine," he told her truthfully.

Dropping the hand that was combing through her hair into her lap, she looked into the cup and then back to Angel with disgust.

"It helps, trust me."

For a second time, Buffy took a deep breath and chugged the foul tasting stuff down. When she gulped down the most she can handle, she coughed and made a noise of distaste.

"Ugh. That was horrible," she sputtered out.

Angel laughed, "Don't worry, it'll all be worth it in a few minutes," he then offered her the cup of water, to which she took willingly.

After a few sips, she licked her lips and gazed at Angel with confusion, "What happened?"

"Well," he took a seat on the edge of his bed, "Let's just say you really let yourself go last night."

"Hmm..." Buffy groaned, "That explains why that Irish jig guy made a special appearance in my head."

Angel laughed again in return, putting a sympathetic hand on her back, trying to ignore the spark he felt at the minor contact.

"Did I... um... do o-or say anything that will eventually come around and kick me in the ass?" She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping she didn't admit her feelings to Angel. They were only friends and he had a great woman like Nina, she couldn't bear it if she ruined all of it.

"Well, I don't think Brian will be too happy when he hears that you did a table dance; you almost started stripping," Angel nearly growled when he reminded Buffy of her drunken stupidity. He thought about how the blonde almost gave a free show to the crowd of inebriated males.

Buffy's jaw dropped, her hand covering her opened mouth.

"Don't worry, Xander and I stopped you in time," Buffy groaned in response at Angel's reassurance, "But other than that, it was just random comments that absolutely made no sense whatsoever."

The girl just scoffed, her head bowed in shame. She felt rather embarrassed that she would do such a thing, but she was also relieved that she didn't ruin any relationships. Well, all but one. But she wouldn't exactly say she ruined it.

"Brian's not an issue anymore," she raised her stare into his brown eyes, "We broke up last night over the phone."

"Oh, so is that why you let loose last night?" Angel scooted a little bit closer to her, feeling overjoyed that the little prick was gone.

Buffy grinned and raised an eyebrow, "Oh please! He was a minor issue in my life. I'm glad I broke up with him. I mean, geez, my parents don't give me as much a third degree as he did."

Brian had called during the party, berating her with questions like "What are you doing", "Who are you with", or "Are you wearing a sweater?". Buffy had finally snapped and used her cousin's advice and gave him the old boot. She felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders as soon as she hung up with him, letting him off as gently as possible in her annoyed state.

"That was just me having fun," Buffy finished, half lying. She had seen Angel and Nina making out in a not-so-discreet part of the house. That sort of pushed her into doing shots with a group of people she was acquainted with from school.

"Oh, well, I guess you're entitled to that." Buffy nodded.

She then furrowed her eyebrows and questioned, "Why am I at your house and not at mine?"

"Well my house is just a few houses down from Mason's, and half of the group was drunk, so everybody just decided to crash here," then he added, "And since you had more to drink then everybody else, we gave you my room, which," he pointed to his private bathroom, "is the only one with its own bathroom. Thank God for that." He remembered all the vomit that came out of the small woman. His mom would've killed him if she got any of it on anything that wasn't the toilet.

"Wait, everybody's here?" She silently groaned. Great, that's all she needed, a hangover and more Angel and Nina kissage.

"Everybody but Nina," Buffy tried to keep herself from smiling and sighing in relief, "She had to do something for school today."

"Sorry," she apologized, although, she wasn't.

"Yeah," the tone of his voice sounded as if he felt the same way as Buffy, but she dismissed that, "So, you feeling up to going downstairs to join the others?"

She thought for a moment before answering, "No, I just wanna stay up here for a bit if you don't mind."

"No, no that's okay, I'll just leave you alone to get some rest, "he moved to get off his bed when Buffy grabbed his arm.

"Can you stay with me," she pleaded, not wanting him to leave her side.

Angel sat back down with a smile, "Yeah, I'll stay with you."

Buffy leaned against him, "Your mom doesn't mind having a whole bunch of teenagers in her house?"

The brunette shook his head, "She loves having company. As long as we tell her and the other parents."

Buffy opened her mouth to ask, but Angel read her mind and answered her question before she can utter it out.

"I had Spike call your parents last night, they know you're here. They just don't know you were drunk."

Buffy smiled thankfully at him. He was so sweet. She kicked herself almost everyday for not snagging him when he was available.

For awhile they sat there in comfortable silence, with Buffy leaning against Angel, until there was a knock on the door.

Both of them looked toward the door when Connor entered.

"Hey guys," the tall sixteen-year-old greeted, "We're all going to the mall to annoy Xander, wanna come?"

Angel glanced at Buffy and then looked back to his brother, "Nah, I think we'll stay here. Buffy's still not feeling well."

Connor silently nodded, looking as if he wanted to comment but refrained himself from doing so.

"Okay," the blue-eyed brunette accepted, "Hey Angel, can I borrow ten?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't have enough money," Connor said.

"Why are you asking me?"

"'Cause you're my favorite brother," Connor tried, but when he saw that Angel didn't buy it, he sighed, "Come on Angel. That new game that WE wanted came out and I'm a little short. So can you be a gracious big brother and spot me a few bucks?"

Angel rolled his eyes and got up off the bed, walking over to his desk to retrieve his leather wallet, pulling out a ten.

"You need a job," he stated, handing the bill to Connor.

"Why get a job when I got three older brothers to bum off of," he smirked, snatching the money from Angel's hand, winking at an amused Buffy.

Angel couldn't help but chuckle, playfully shoving his younger brother's long-haired head, "Leave you leech."

"Thanks Angel. Bye Buffy."

"See ya Connor. Have fun," the blonde said from her spot on the bed.

"Yeah, you too," Connor devilishly smiled and looked between Buffy and Angel before backing out of the room and shutting the door.

Buffy giggled when he left, "He's too cute."

Angel turned to the girl resting on his bed, "Yeah, he's just plum adorable," he sarcastically replied, walking back to his bed and sat back in his spot.

Buffy giggled again, transferring her weight onto Angel, leaning back into his side.

After a moment, Buffy questioned, "You know what I've always wondered?"

"Hmm?"

"How you got the nickname Angel."

Angel looked down at her and smiled, "My mom wanted to originally name her first born that, after her grandfather. But my dad won the coin toss and ended up giving me the first name of Liam. It was weird, because even though he wanted Liam, he was the one to start calling me Angel. I guess it was because he knew how much my mom loved that name."

"Is that where they got your middle name? Only with an 'us'?"

"Yeah, my mom said Liam and Angel didn't sound right together, so my dad suggested Angelus."

Buffy nodded in interest, "And Oz and Xander? How'd they get their nicknames?"

"Well don't tell him I told you this, but his middle name is Oscar. He's always hated it ever since we were kids, so he told our parents that he wanted to shorten it to 'Oz' because it sounded better and because of his obsession with 'The Wizard of Oz'. So my dad just started calling him that and it stuck. And Xander got his nickname because Dad thought Alex was too common of a name so he just used Xander instead."

Buffy lifted her head off of Angel's shoulder and looked into his brown eyes, softly smiling, "Your dad sounded like a great man."

Angel sadly reverted his gaze to his lap, "Yeah. He was."

Buffy bit her lip, a little afraid to ask, but still couldn't help be curious.

"If you don't mind me asking, h-how did he..." she trailed off, not able to finish the question because she didn't want to upset Angel greatly.

Angel let out a deep breath. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to tell her the reason of his father's death. That was something he always kept to himself due to the circumstances. "It happened about ten years ago. He was um… He was shot. By one of the nurses that worked for him. H-He was a pediatrician, one of the best," Angel briefly grinned at the memory of his beloved father, "Anyway, the nurse, Darla, she got fired by my dad because she mistreated the patients and slacked off a lot. Not only that, but she was always all over my dad. I could remember some of the times I'd overhear him and mom argue over her. I guess she wasn't very mentally stable because the way she took my dad's rejection… She broke into his office one day, pulled out a gun, and just shot him. She was going to go after my mom and us next, but the police caught her in time. She's rotting in prison back in Orlando. She deserves to die a slow and painful death for what she did to my family."

Buffy sat there, watching Angel with sad eyes as he told his story. The whole time, he talked with a far away look in his eyes. It was almost as if he forgot she was there and he was just thinking out loud.

"Angel," Buffy tried to bring him back to her, reaching out and touching his cheek.

As Angel locked his watery eyes with Buffy's, he gave her a small, reassuring grin, a single tear escaped and dripped onto Buffy's comforting hand.

"It's okay. I-it happened a long time ago, I barely even remember what happened," he lied. Buffy didn't believe him but chose not to say anything.

She moved her hand from his cheek to his shoulder and then traveled it down his arm to hold his hand. Angel knew it was supposed to be a friendly gesture, but he couldn't help but feel the tingle that went up and down his spine from the touch of her hand.

Getting the feeling that Angel didn't want to talk about the death of his dad anymore, she smiled at him, "Christmas is coming up soon you know," she said, trying to lighten up the depressing mood.

Thankful for the rather random change of subject, Angel smiled back at her.

"Yeah, it is " he responded.

"Buy me something pretty yet," she asked and he laughed.

Angel playfully glared while he smirked at his friend, "What makes you think I bought you something?"

She poked him in the chest, "Because you're secretly in love with me," she joked, all the while thinking, 'Only in my dreams would that ever come true.'

'If only you knew Buffy, if only you knew,' he thought as he kept up their flirtatious banter.

TBC…


	11. Hesitation

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 10

Dawn and Jessica sat on one of the picnic tables, laughing and eating their lunch. At the same time, Jessica was studying her history notes for her upcoming exam.

"Hey guys," Connor said when he joined the two, taking a seat next to Dawn.

The girl then loudly gasped in surprise, squealing, "Oh my God Connor! You cut your hair!"

He ran a hand through his thick brown hair. It was now cut a few inches shorter, the front falling just above his eyebrows, went over the tops of his ears, and then the back ended about to the middle of his neck. "Yup, I did," he shyly smiled at her enthusiasm.

"It looks so good! I love it!" He looked older and less... girly.

"Thanks."

Jessica looked up from her notes she was looking over, "You should've seen our mom when she first saw it. She was going crazy. She nearly cried tears of joy."

Connor glared at his sister, to which she returned when he swiped her pretzels.

He popped one in his mouth and got up, "I'll be back," he declared, walking off.

"Oh my gosh. He is so cute!" Dawn gushed over Connor.

"Ugh, gag me," Jessica mumbled while munching on a pretzel.

When Connor came back later, he was sporting a gloating smile on his face, "I am loving this new hair cut. Got me five numbers. Two of them are seniors," he held up a couple of torn pieces of paper and then put it in the pocket of the light red pin-striped shirt he wore over his blue t- shirt.

Dawn frowned and looked sadly towards Jessica and then down into her homemade salad.

Jessica, getting really sick of her brother's obliviousness, took matters in her own hands and started to do something about it.

"Dawn, can you do me a favor and get me a Mountain Dew," she handed the money to Dawn.

As soon as her best friend was out of hearing range, Jessica swiftly kicked her brother under the table.

"Ow," he exclaimed, while rubbing his sore shin, "What the fuck did you do that for!"

"Because you're a stupid jerk!"

"What! It was just a pretzel! We have more at home you know!"

Jessica rolled her eyes, "What are you, retarted! This has nothing to do with the pretzel dumbass! It's about Dawn!"

"Dawn? What did I do to her?"

"She likes you Connor," his eyes widened and his jaw dropped in shock, "Yeah that's right, she likes you... A lot. She worships the ground you walk on and you're the only one who can't see that. And frankly, I'm sick of it!"

"Are you serious?"

"You know I am Connor."

"I always thought she was cute, but I never thought she would...," he trailed off.

"You need to talk to her?"

"I don't know."

When Dawn came back and handed her friend the bottle of soda, Jessica gathered up her stuff and got up.

"I gotta go," she announced while she threw away her trash in the nearby trash can.

"Why?" Dawn furrowed her eyebrows, starting to gather her belongings, too.

"Um, I have to... find Angel or Oz... or somebody," she half-lied, "I have a wicked hard History test and I need help." It was actually the truth, she gave herself a mental pat on the back for the good excuse to leave Connor and Dawn alone.

She went around the table and leaned in towards Connor and whispered in his ear, "No time like the present, right? Love ya," she kissed him on the cheek. After Connor returned her sentiments, she made a mad dash to leave the two and find her other brothers.

Dawn slung her back pack onto her shoulder and was about to catch up with Jessica when Connor gently grabbed her arm.

"Hey Dawn, stay," he urged her to sit back down, "The whole three months I've known you, you and I have never been alone together. Sit," he patted the bench.

The light brown haired girl eyed him warily before slowly sitting down.

They both sat in awkward silence, Connor was nervously sorting out his thoughts while Dawn chewed one of her fingernails, equally nervous that she was actually alone with the guy she admired so.

"So..." Dawn lamely tried to start a conversation.

"So, um, yeah..."

"Yeah..." she responded, and the awkward silence dragged on.

After quickly debating inside his head, Connor finally made up his mind and decided to get it over with, "Do you wanna go out with me to a movie or dinner or something," he incoherently mumbled and cleared his throat.

'That wasn't so hard,' he thought, he just hoped she understood him so he wouldn't have to do it again.

Unfortunately, she didn't, so once again, he gathered what little confidence he had left to ask again. This time he took a big gulp of air and said his words slower. He didn't understand why he was having so much trouble , he'd done it millions of times before, how was this any different?

"Would you go out with me sometime?" he looked into her blue eyes, the same blue eyes that bugged out of her head when he asked the question.

"What...Why... Huh," she stuttered dumbly. She cleared her throat, "Y-you wanna go out with me?"

Connor softly smiled and took hold of her hand, "Yeah, I do."

The girl looked down at the hand lying on top of hers. She beamed at him and exclaimed, "Yes," and then she frowned at her utter lack of coolness, "Um... I mean, I would love to Connor," she calmly corrected herself.

* * *

Buffy and Willow were sitting under the gang's usual oak tree. The whole time Willow was chatting, though, the blonde had a pensive look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked without Buffy having to say anything. Her best friend had on her resolve face so she knew that brushing it off and telling her nothing would be useless.

"Will, I really want to talk to you about something, but I have to know that you can keep it a secret?"

"Buffy, I've lived across the street from you since we were two, and we've been best friends since then, you know I can. I've done it millions of times before."

"Alright, well, I uh-"

"Hi guys," Buffy was cut off by the youngest Roarke.

"Hey Jess," they both greeted, looking up at her as she stood over them.

"What's up?" Buffy asked her.

The girl shrugged, "Nothing, I was just looking for Angel, Oz, or Fred. Have you seen them?"

"Well Fred is helping one of the science teachers with something, and Angel and Oz are with the guys by the football field," Willow answered, "Male bonding time I guess."

"Okay, thanks," she moved to leave in that direction, but stopped in her tracks, "Hey, would one of you like to do a photo shoot for me for my project?"

Willow and Buffy glanced at each other and then back towards the brunette girl in front of them.

"Come on guys," Jessica begged, "It's due in two days, and I'm tired of using Cordelia as my subject."

"I'll do it," Buffy offered, she knew Willow wouldn't feel comfortable posing in front of the camera by herself.

"Thank you Buffy, you are a life saver. We'll do it during sixth period. No one's there during that time so it's perfect. I could get you a pass to get out of class. Is that good for you," Buffy nodded, "Awesome. I gotta go now. Bye guys."

"Bye," they said to the girl as she went off to find her brothers.

"You were saying?" Willow prodded, trying to pick up where they left off.

"What? I was saying something?" Buffy innocently attempted to avoid the subject, having already lost the courage to confess to Willow.

"Buffy..." Willow began to scold her blonde best friend.

"Fine," Buffy paused and looked down at her hands that rested in her lap, "I'm starting to really like someone."

"Ooh, a crush!" Willow perked up in suspense, always loving this kind of gossip, "Who is it?"

Buffy looked into Willow's blue eyes, "Angel," she whispered.

The surprise and excitement were clearly evident on the red head's face, "Really!" She always wanted Buffy and Angel to hook up, she just never said anything because it looked like the two only wanted to stay friends.

Buffy nodded. "This is great," Willow exclaimed.

"No it's not Will."

The excited red head frowned in confusion, "Why not?"

"Because he's with Nina."

Willow's exhilaration was then officially killed when she remembered the other blonde. "Oh, yeah. That's bad."

"No kidding."

Willow looked sympathetically towards Buffy, putting a hand on hers, "You know Buffy, maybe it's..." she trailed off, and had a thoughtful expression on her face, "Aw screw it." She dropped the pity speech she was going to do and decided to encourage her friend, "You know what? I think you should just tell him how you feel. He and Nina aren't that serious, and plus he's too good for her. What with her, you know...," she tried to come up with a flaw of the older blonde, and finally came up with one, "sickenly sweetness. Yeah, she's so nice that it makes me nauseous. It's like-"

"Okay Will," Buffy smiled at her friend's babble and her lame attempt to insult Nina, "I get it. But I don't think I should-"

"Ah," Willow held up a finger, "I've made up my mind. You have to talk to him," she pointed a finger to her own face, "Resolve face."

"But-"

"Resolve face!"

Knowing the determined red head would never back down, Buffy relented with a sigh, "Fine. I'll talk to him."

"Promise?"

"You can count on it."

* * *

"So, um, Sam, would you do me the honor... No, that sounds lame... Hey Sam...," Riley was mumbling to himself, trying to find the perfect way to ask Samantha out on a date. After much encouragement from his cousins and friends, he finally decided that today was the day that he would ask her out.

He was nervously pacing back and forth on the side of the football field, and watched as the drill team practiced. The brunette captain was so captivating and beautiful to him as she lead her troop around.

When the team finally decided to take a break, Riley figured that was his cue. He took a glance behind him, searching for some moral support from his friends as they sat in the bleachers. Lucky him, they weren't even paying attention. Angel and Oz were busy helping Jessica do last minute cramming, and Gunn was rambling on and on to Spike and Xander on how he suspected Fred cheating on him with the college librarian, Wesley Wyndham-Price.

Riley shook his head and made a beeline toward Sam who was chatting with other girls on the team. Before he could reach her, he heard his name being called. He turned to his right to see Forrest Banks jogging his way toward him. Forrest was an annoying black kid that thought he was the shit of the school, but in actuality, everybody couldn't stand him.

"Hey Riley. What's up man," Forrest raised his hand for a five. Politely, Riley put out his hand and let Forrest slap his palm. "Hey Forrest."

"So, what you up to?" The wannabe Gunn questioned.

"Actually, Forrest, I'm kinda-"

"That's great. Look, can I ask you a favor?"

Riley rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "What?"

"You know Jessica Roarke, right? I mean, I see you hang out with her."

Riley looked at him as if he asked the most stupidest question on Earth, which was kind of true, everybody knew that they were cousins, "Well, yeah... we're related. She's my little cousin. I've told you that."

"Oh right." Riley eyed him with a raised eyebrow, "Anyways, I was wondering if you can hook me up with her. Maybe even Dawn, too."

"Forrest, you're not really their type."

"Come on man. Just put in a good word for me. Those two look like they aim to please, if you know what I mean."

Riley took a threatening step towards the jerk-off, "Look, you stay away from my cousin and Dawn, and don't you EVER say shit like that about them, or trust me, you'll regret it. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I got it," Forrest took a step backwards, a terrified expression on his face.

Riley shot him a tight smile and nodded, "Good," he patted him on the shoulder, "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta do something."

* * *

A couple of periods later, Buffy and Jessica were alone in the photo lab, having just finished the photo shoot Jessica needed for her project.

While Jessica rolled up the chords of the lights and put them away, Buffy stood patiently in front of the backdrop, talking to the other girl as she tidied up.

Buffy thought for a moment and then told her, "Angel told me what happened to your dad. Must've been hard for you."

Jessica paused in her task, a wave of sadness washing over her, but she quickly tried to cover it, "It was a long time ago. I barely remember it," she lied just like Angel did, "Wait, what did he tell you exactly?"

"That your dad was murdered."

"Oh, um… We usually tell people that he died in a car crash. Well, Angel, he usually just avoids talking about my dad's death all together."

Buffy furrowed her brow, "What?"

"Um, yeah. He really doesn't like reliving it. I wouldn't either. I don't know what I would've done if I found Dad… You know he was the last person to talk to him right before he… died, right?"

"He what?"

"Oh…," she sat at a nearby desk and mumbled to herself, "I should've known that he would keep that part to himself."

Buffy pulled up a chair in front of the girl. "Would it be bad if I asked you about it would it?"

Jessica hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether or not if it was a good idea to tell Buffy. Finally, she settled on the fact that Buffy was a trustworthy person and wouldn't treat them any different by pitying them if she told her.

"Well, um, the day that it happened," Jessica paused to take a breath to soothe herself, she hated telling or hearing this story, "We were going to have a family night and go to some sort of restaurant. We did it every week," just as Angel did, she smiled at the memory, but it turned suddenly turned into a frown, "We haven't done that since Angel…," she cleared her throat and Buffy briefly wondered what she was talking about, "Anyways, we were all in the car, waiting for Dad to get out so we can go. He was running a little late, so Angel volunteered to get him. When he got there, he found dad on the floor, with blood coming out of his chest." Jessica inhaled a hitching breath as she held in her tears, "Angel ran to him to stop the bleeding, but there was too much. He was still alive, barely, Angel told me that as he was dying, he held his hand and he told him that he had to take care of our brothers and look after his girls," she let out a sob and Buffy held her hand, "He said that he was the man of the house now, to be brave and know that he'll always be with us and will always love us. They found Angel clinging to Dad's body. It took two men to pry him off. He didn't talk at all for an entire week."

As Jessica finished off with tears running down her cheeks, Buffy pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring you down," Jessica said, trying to wipe away her tears.

Buffy's hazel eyes met Jessica's dark brown ones that were so identical to her brothers', and she smoothed back her dark hair, "No, no. I'm grateful that you told me." She hugged Jessica again, not even beginning to imagine the tragedy the family had to go through.

TBC…


	12. That Night

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 11

'Oh dear God. Please shut up,' Jessica silently pleaded in her mind. Nina had insisted on waiting for Angel to come home from work, leaving his sister alone with the girlfriend.

Xander was on a date with Cordelia and Oz was at Willow's house, having dinner with her parents for the first time. Connor was on his first date with Dawn and Mom was out of town for a convention.

Jessica got the bad end of the stick, she was stuck at home with major congestion and a bad cough. Not to mention, they were out of juice. Her luck sucked.

She had a terrible cold and Nina's rambling weren't helping any. 'Figures,' she thought, 'First day of Winter break, I get sick and left alone with a really weird person.'

She sat comfortably as she could on one end of the couch, her right hand fingers resting against her temple, while Nina 'entertained' her on the other end, talking about what she learned in one of her classes about phlegm build-up. The younger girl patted herself on the back for perfecting the skill of looking like you were paying attention when in actuality was totally zoning out.

The only thoughts that went through Jessica's head was that Angel was taking way too long to get home, what excuse could she use to get away from Nina, or if she should cough and sneeze on her as revenge.

Jessica knew the woman meant well , but she was trying WAY too hard to impress her. When they first met her, Nina didn't bother her too much, she was nice. Then suddenly they were alone together for the first time and Jessica was too tempted to throw something at her.

Finally, Jessica heard the blissful sound of Angel's voice calling her name. Despite how she felt, she quickly excused herself, jumped up and ran to her brother.

Angel barely got into the house when he was attacked by his little sister. She latched onto his waist and squeezed him for all he was worth. It took him a second to react; he laughed and wrapped his arms around Jessica.

"Um... hello to you, too," he patted her back with his free hand, the other hand held a full, plastic grocery bag, "How ya feeling?"

Jessica loosened her grip and looked up into his face, "Peachy, "She sarcastically said, her voice sounding hoarse and stuffy. She then smacked him as hard as she could on the chest, "What the hell took you so long?"

Angel held up the bag in his hand, "I got you your juice," he told her and handed the bag over, "And some extra tissues."

"Oh, I guess that's okay then. Thank you," she was about to run to the kitchen, but then turned back around to inform him, "Oh and Angel...,"she pointed to the living room, "she's a keeper," she said, making a clicking noise with her tongue while shooting him an over exaggerated wink.

He hung his keys on the key holder his mom just bought. (She was complaining that the boys were scratching up her bureau when they carelessly threw their keys on top of it). He glared at her, knowing she was using her sarcastic wit again, "Thanks Jess," he said with just as much sarcasm.

"You're- ACHOO- Welcome (sniffle)." With that his sister disappeared in the kitchen, the only signs of her being there were her loud sneezing and coughing.

Angel ran a hand through his hair and scratched his scalp, preparing himself to face his girlfriend. He was tired and he just wanted to be left alone. Nina just wasn't the blonde he wanted to see at the moment. He wasn't mad at her, he just felt he didn't need her company, but someone else's.

"Nina," he called out.

The blonde then emerged from the living room with a wide smile, "Hey Sweetie!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the lips. She expected a deep, passionate kiss, but Angel only allowed a peck.

"Hey. What are you doing here," he asked, putting his hands on her waist, subtly trying to put a little distance between them.

"I just wanted to see my man," she slid her hands from his neck down his chest.

"Oh, um, okay," Angel replied uneasily, "Look, um, Nina. I'm really tired. Plus, I have to take care of Jessica, she's sick. So, um, can you..."

Nina backed away, a little hurt, "Oh, yeah, um, sure."

Feeling guilty, Angel sighed and put his hands on her shoulders, "I'm sorry, I've had a hard day and I just don't want you to catch Jessica's cold."

Nina kissed his cheek and gave him a little smile, "It's okay, I understand. I can't afford to be sick anyways."

"Raincheck?"

"I'll hold you to that." Angel placed his hand on her lower back and escorted her to the door. When Nina kissed him goodnight, he had to fight the urge to back away, the name Buffy was the first thing that popped in his mind. He closed the door and leaned against it. He needed some help on this predicament and he needed some now.

"Jessica," he yelled, "Come here!"

Said girl groaned as she walked up in front of her brother, "What," she snapped, angry that he made her move.

"Can I talk to you?" he pleaded.

Seeing that Angel was desperate to talk to her about something, she took pity on him and nodded. Following him to his room, Jessica asked, "Am I getting paid?"

"I'll get you another bottle of juice," he joked, despite both of their moods.

"Deal," she agreed and then proceeded to go into a coughing fit.

* * *

Meanwhile...

It was a beautiful night. The stars were shining and the moon was full. The sound of laughing and talking from two young teenagers rang through the peaceful atmosphere as they got out of the maroon Camry.

"I let you win," Connor declared, while walking his date to her door.

"Or, you know, you just suck," Dawn retaliated, laughing all the while.

"Whatever... Think what you want, but I still think I am the master of bowling. I just felt that this being our first date and all, that you should win."

Dawn rolled her eyes then smiled, "This evening has been so great, thank you Connor."

"It was my pleasure," the two stood there on her front porch, Dawn on the top step and Connor stood on the bottom.

After a few moments, Connor dared to take a dive and climbed the two steps, moving closer to Dawn and towering over her.

'Oh my God this it! The moment I've been waiting for, for so long,' she exclaimed in her mind as Connor leaned in closer. She put her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes when he placed a hand on her cheek.

Finally, Connor captured her lips with his, lingering there for a few moments. When they slowly parted and opened their eyes, they both saw that the other had a furrowed brow.

"That was...," Dawn started.

"Weird," Connor finished out for her and she agreed with a nod of her head. "Let me try again," he kissed her once more, only to separate from her a second later.

They both chuckled, putting a gap between their bodies. The dark haired boy wiping the lip gloss Dawn left on him.

Connor held out his hand, "See you tomorrow?" Dawn accepted the proffered hand, both exchanging a friendly handshake.

"Tomorrow," she replied with a smile, turning to enter her home. Connor watched her go inside before heading back to the car he borrowed from Xander.

* * *

Silence rang throughout the Rosenberg home, the only sound heard was the ticking of the clock and the cheerful humming of Sheila Rosenberg as she prepared dinner. Dinner she ordered, of course. Who had time to cook nowadays?

Willow sat, impatiently fidgeting, on the couch across from her dad, who sat in his recliner, engrossed in the business section of the newspaper.

After what seemed like an eternity, the doorbell rang, making Willow jump to her feet, quickly smoothing her hair and skirt.

She ran to the door and then paused to take a breath to calm herself. After a little reassuring nod, she pulled open the door.

"Hey," she greeted her boyfriend.

"Hey," he replied back.

Willow dragged him in by the hand, simultaneously calling out for her parents, only to find them standing right behind her.

"Oh, there you are. Uh, Mom, Dad, this is Oz."

"Hi," Oz said, holding out his hand, "Nice to meet you."

The big man with glasses and a brown beard known as Ira shook his hand and nodded, "Nice to meet you, too."

When Sheila shook Oz's hand, her face was full of surprise, "Y-your hair is blue."

Oz smirked, "Sometimes," he replied, scratching his blue-tipped head.

Willow kept shifting her weight from one leg to the other, "Uh, Mom? Dinner?"

"Oh yes. Right this way... Oz."

Halfway through the dinner, Ira decided to break the awkwardness surrounding the table.

"So, Oz, Willow told us you're in a band. Is it like a jazz band?"

"Rock band actually," Oz answered.

"Is that what you want to do for the rest of your life?"

"Dad," Willow exclaimed incredulously.

"No, it's okay," Oz assured her, not offended at all, "Actually, if the band doesn't pan out, than I was thinking of becoming a producer and making my own label."

"Oh, that's cute," Sheila said, Willow rolling her eyes at her mom's opinion, and Oz gently squeezed his girlfriend's hand. "So," Sheila continued, "Is Oz your real name?"

"Not, it's a nickname. My real name's Daniel Roarke."

"Roarke," Ira asked.

"Yes sir."

"Is your mother Isabella?"

"Yes sir."

"Well I'll be! I should've known, she never stops talking about you guys. As a matter of fact, you look like you have some Izzy in you."

"Thank you Sir."

"I work with your mother. Helluva woman she is..."

Willow gleamed and slightly bounced in her chair, happy that they were getting somewhere, 'Yes, finally, it's going well.'

* * *

"Okay Buffy, you can do this," Buffy said to herself as she sat in her mom's jeep, gripping the steering wheel, "Just, go up to his door, knock, and talk to him. Simple as that."

After much pushing from Willow, Buffy finally got the nerve to confront Angel about her feelings.

So, now, she was parked on the side of the street, in front of the house. She made it all the way here, now the next step was to get out of the jeep and walk to the door.

She was about to do just that, thinking of what to say to him. Just as she reached for her purse sitting on the passenger seat, she ticked her eyes to the front of the house, seeing the door open.

A frown marred her beautiful face when she saw Nina and Angel walk out the door. Her heart just sunk when the couple said goodbye with a kiss. As Nina got into her own car and backed out of the driveway, Buffy ducked in the front, not wanting to be seen by the other woman. Whatever confidence she had just went down the drain. She had witnessed Nina and Angel kiss one too many times.

Xander was walking home from Cordelia's, angrily mumbling to himself. He and the fiery brunette just had another fight. It was just another one to add to the list. They were talking about Gunn and Fred's situation, and somehow that lead to a conclusion that Xander was cheating on Cordelia.

He made a vow to himself that this was it... he was done with her, and he wouldn't be the one to cave in this time, no Siree. But deep down, he knew he was just fooling himself. He cared too much for Cordy to let her go.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his baggy pants and kicked a stone. Looking up, he realized he reached his destination. He also saw that a familiar jeep was parked next to the driveway, with a familiar blonde sitting on the driver's side. Her arms were folded on top of the steering wheel, her face hidden within them.

He walked up to the green vehicle, "Buffy?" he asked though the open window.

She turned her head with it still resting on her arms.

"Hey," he softly smiled and reached out to caress her blonde hair. He noticed the broken look on her face and offered, "You wanna go for a walk?"

TBC…


	13. Good to know

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 12

"Bless you," Angel said to his little sister after she sneezed multiple of times. He was walking upstairs to his room Jessica miserably trudging behind.

After blowing her nose, Jessica let out a frustrated yell, angry that she was still congested.

"Are you sure you wanna talk to me while I'm like this," she questioned as she did a belly flop onto his queen sized bed, slipped under his thick comforter, and snuggled into the light green covered pillows.

He took a seat next to her, leaning back on his headboard.

"I need all the help I can get right now."

"Alright," she sat up against the headboard and gently slapped his thigh, "Talk away Big Brother!"

"Well... Um… There's this... someone, and he's with this great, attractive woman. But there's this other woman who's just... amazing and beautiful and he just can't stop thinking about her."

Jessica raised both her eyebrows, "So why don't you just tell Nina and Buffy how you feel," she advised with a shrug of her shoulders.

"How'd you know I was talking about them and me?" He was actually surprised that Jessica "cracked his code."

As a response, she rolled her eyes and said, "I'm sick, not dumb." She emphasized the end of her sentence with a sniffle.

Angel sighed, "I don't know what to do. I really like Nina. We have a great time together."

Jessica inwardly cringed, 'Damn it, I can't believe I'm gonna say this.' "Then be with Nina."

"But," Angel continued, as if he hadn't heard his sister's suggestion, "Buffy's always on my mind. I find myself shying away from Nina because Buffy's the only thing I think about."

Jessica nodded her head and pursed lips, "Then Buffy it is."

"But I really care about Nina. I mean she made me a vase!"

In a slightly annoyed tone, she repeated, "Then go with Nina."

"But Buffy... She's everything I've ever wanted. We just click, you know?"

"Dear God! Buffy! Go with Buffy!"

Ignoring how agitated Jessica sounded, Angel rambled on," But Nina-"

"Okay Angel," Jessica said in a calmer tone, cutting him off before he could say anything more, "I'm gonna stop you right there. 'Cause if you don't I'm gonna get REALLY mad at you and then sneeze in your face."

Angel looked down at her "innocent" face incredulously, but he knew that she was crazy enough to do it, if provoked enough. He settled back against the headboard again and his face morphed into broody mode.

"Do you like Nina," he asked out of nowhere.

"She's nice. I just wouldn't want to be alone in a room with her."

"Why not?"

Jessica slightly squirmed, suddenly a wee bit uncomfortable under Angel's questioning gaze, "I just think... that... she's kinda... she's annoying. I mean, she's not as bad as the Kendalls but... the girl was talking about bodily functions for crying out loud!"

"So you don't like her?"

"Now I didn't say that! I said I can't be alone with her."

"Same thing."

"Nah uh!... Look, you know, don't break up with a girl because I or anybody else don't like her. If you care for her that much then stay with her. Otherwise..." Jessica reached over to grab the black cordless on the bureau. She tossed him the phone and gave him one last smile before making herself comfortable at the foot of the bed and turning on his tv.

Angel stared at the phone in his hand, coming up with a decision. Dialing the number, he hit Jessica with a pillow when it started ringing, signaling her to turn down the volume of the tv.

"Hey Nina, it's me. We need to talk."

* * *

The next night, the Bronze was packed and the music of Dingoes Ate my Baby rocked the club.

Buffy sat with a giddy Willow, fiddling with her plastic cup as they both watched Oz's band finish up their set.

As everyone around her loosened up and threw their cares away, Buffy was lost in her own thoughts. She thought back to the conversation she had with Xander last night.

After practically forcing it out of her, Xander finally got Buffy to confess why she was brooding in front of his house.

_/"Daddy issues," Xander prodded._

_"No," she simply answered._

_"Mama issues?"_

_"Xander," she stopped walking to yell at her friend, "It has nothing to do with my parents or any of my family or my grades! Okay?"_

_The brunette held up his hands in surrender. As they started walking again, Xander continued, "Boy problems," when Buffy didn't respond, he figured that was it, "Finally, we're getting somewhere! It's boy problems! So what boy has got you all twisted?"_

_"No one," Buffy lied, but Xander saw right through it._

_"Let's see," he tried to figure it out on his own, "You were in front of my house, all sad. It must be someone that lives there. Am I getting warm?" Seeing that she was trying to avoid his gaze, he was very much in fact really warm. "Ooh!...," he put his arm around her shoulders and waggled his eyebrows, dropping his voice an octave to sound seductive, "Is it me?"_

_"Xander...," she warned, looking at him with a smirk. She was thankful she was walking with Xander. His goofy humor brightened up her mood a little._

_"Okay, fine, not me," he suddenly wore a grimace on his face, "It's not Jessica is it?" Buffy smacked his arm, appalled that he suggested that, "Hey I'm not judging!"_

_"No! Ew Xander!"_

_"I hope it's not Connor, 'cause that would be weird."_

_"It's not Connor."_

_"Okay, so it's not me, Connor, or Jessica. So process of elimination leaves Oz and Angel. I'm gonna do a quick Eenie Meanie Minee Mo in my head and choose... Angel! Am I right? Is it Angel?"_

_She bit her lip and silently nodded, confirming his guess._

_"Oh... Did he say something hurtful to you," he was worried that Angel had gone back to old, short-lived habits. Those few months were horrible._

_"No, not really."_

_"Then what is it?" Xander noticed the tentative look on her face and softly assured her, "Buffy, whatever you tell me will stay between us," he put his right hand over his heart, "I promise."_

_Trusting her friend, she relented with a sigh and told the whole saga that lead up to the moment Xander found her in the jeep._

_"Buffy," he stopped them in their tracks, holding her shoulders so they could make eye contact, "Believe me when I say that my brother would never do or say anything to intentionally hurt you." 'Not anymore that is,' he silently added to himself. He didn't want to be the one to tell her about a phase that Angel went through a couple years ago. That was Angel's job._

_Embracing him in a friendly hug, Buffy whispered to her friend, "Thank you Xander."/_

Buffy was suddenly jolted from her flashback when she heard Willow chirp loudly over the music, "Hey Angel!"

"Hey Willow," his deep voice followed. Their eyes met and they exchanged soft smiles, "Hi Buffy."

"Hey," she greeted.

Angel started to fidget uncomfortably and Buffy eyed him with a worried glance, "Angel?" He looked up at her, "Are you okay?"

"Um... Yeah. Fine... Actually, can we um," he crooked his thumb to the back room with all the couches.

She nodded, "Yeah, sure," she followed him, wondering what he wanted to talk about.

When they sat on the unoccupied, dark orange couch, Angel angled him self so he can look into her greenish-blue eyes.

"Buffy I...," he cut himself off to take a breath of courage, and then continued, "I've always had feelings for you, but lately, it's been getting stronger. I just wanted to know if there's any chance you might... feel the same way?"

Searching her face for any reaction, all he found was a blank expression devoid of any emotion. Assuming that her silence was a no, he felt his heart rip in two.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn'tve said anything. I-" Just when he was bout to get up, Buffy finally reacted and grabbed his face and kissed him on the lips, stopping his apology.

When they separated, Buffy smiled, gazed into his beautiful, brown eyes and said, "There's more than a chance, it's a guarantee."

He beamed and replied, "Good to know." He leaned in to kiss her again, but Buffy avoided contact and questioned with a frown, "What about Nina?"

He caressed her cheek and told her, "I called her last night and told her how I felt, and after she threatened to shove the vase she made me up somewhere not pretty, she told me that she understood. Besides the threat, she took it pretty well."

Buffy licked her lips and grinned, "So you're available for the taking now?"

"Yup. Better take advantage of me while I'm still on the rebound," he joked and leaned in once more to kiss her and shut out the world around them.

TBC…


	14. What just happened?

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 13

Buffy and Angel went out for their first date the next night, and had been attached to the hip ever since. They had received the immense approval of all their family and friends, most of them claiming it was about friggin' time.

But while new relationships were being created over the break, an old one had ended; Gunn and Fred had split. Fred had told Gunn that she did in fact have strong feelings for Wesley, but still deeply cared for him. With that in mind, Gunn did a noble thing and suggested that she should pursue her feelings with Wesley, although it hurt him to do so. It was a heart wrenching break-up that involved a whole bunch of tears, but it still ended in good terms, the two deciding to remain friends.

Despite that sad moment in time, the gang still managed to have a good vacation. Christmas Eve was celebrated at the Summers' household. It was an intimate gathering of family and close friends, a perfect way to celebrate the joyous holiday.

While Christmas was calmly spent there, the Roarkes held an all out, in Oz's words, hootenanny at their house for New Years. Even Faith flew in to join the festivities. It was complete with a hired DJ and an open bar, which was insisted by Isabella's good friend, Lorne Caritas. The two grew up together, and had followed Isabella to California. He had resided in L.A. but visited his favorite family whenever he got the chance.

Even though the gang's vacation was a blast, they knew it had to end sometime.

It was now the dreaded Monday, the first day of the second semester of school.

Angel pulled his black Plymouth convertible into the senior parking lot, scanning the area for his girlfriend. Seeing her silver vehicle was two spaces away from where he parked, he was disappointed to find that she was already in the building.

After Angel parked his car, the Roarke siblings split in two different directions, the twins going one way and the triplets going the other.

The three oldest were a few yards away from the tree where they were going to meet the others when a familiar voice chirped, "Hi Angel," from behind them.

They stopped and turned around to come face to face with an annoying blonde, who was surprisingly alone and not with her usual flock of chicken heads.

"Hello Harmony," Angel greeted politely, Oz and Xander discreetly slipping away behind him. 'Traitors,' he silently yelled in his head. They always did that to him.

"I'm sorry I missed your party. I heard it was like totally awesome," Harmony said, stepping a little closer to the handsome eighteen year old.

Taking a step backwards, Angel gripped the strap of his back pack that was loosely hanging on his shoulder tighter.

"Uh... It was," he replied, not knowing what else to say.

"So I heard you broke up with the college girl," she leaned in closer, Angel leaning backwards to avoid her touch, "Must've been hard for you."

"Actually..." he trailed off when he felt small arms wrap around his waist. Seeing that it was Buffy, he relaxed and threw an arm over her shoulders.

"Hey Harmony," Buffy's voice was filled with faux sweetness. The ditz was always envious of her and always tried to show her up. So Buffy was enjoying the look on Harmony's face. Her mouth was agape and she was stuttering. To their amazement, no one had informed her, the girl with the biggest mouth in all of Sunnydale, that Buffy and Angel had hooked up.

"Uh...um... H-hi B-Buffy. H-how was your break?"

Buffy's fake smile for Harmony turned genuine when she gazed up at her boyfriend.

"It was great. I got myself a new honey." Angel returned her smile and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"Y-you and Angel are together?"

"Yup, since the second day of the break."

"Oh...um... that's great," Feeling awkward, Harmony took a glimpse toward her watch and said quickly, "Oh would you look at the time! I gotta go and... Bye!" Hightailing it out of there, Harmony scurried off in search of Blue and Aura so she can start bitching at them for not feeding her this important piece of gossip.

"Hmm... Wonder what was wrong with her," Angel joked, glancing at the departing blonde and then back at the one at his side.

Buffy giggled in return, "That was fun. We should do that again."

Rolling his eyes, he smiled at his girlfriend, leaning down to give her the proper hello kiss he was planning to give her before he was intercepted.

"Hi," he said when they parted.

"Hey. I missed you."

He laughed and took her hand, slowly leading her to the gang's spot, "We were together all day yesterday and we were on the phone for two hours last night."

"So, doesn't mean that I didn't miss you."

He let go of her hand and opted to wrap his arm around her again instead. He kissed her smooth forehead and replied, "I missed you, too."

Finally they managed to meet up with the rest of their friends. They only got a minute to talk before the first bell rang, signaling them to head off to class and begin a long drawn out day of boring lectures and note taking.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Pete asked me out," Dawn exclaimed, practically attacking Jessica as soon as they met after their third period class.

"What? Who's Pete," Jessica asked, looking at Dawn, puzzled, and then shifted her gaze towards their other friend Janice, who looked just as equally excited as Dawn.

"Pete," Janice simply answered while they walked down the hallway to Jessica's locker. When she saw that Jessica's confused expression hadn't faded, she exhaled in frustration, "You know, the drop dead gorgeous Pete who's on the lacrosse team! He's friends with Connor."

Jessica's eyes widened in realization, "Oh! Pete!" Dawn nodded with extreme excitement, "Oh wow... Way to go Dawn. He's hot!"

"I know," Dawn squealed, "He's taking me to dinner and then to the movies."

"So you're finally over Connor, huh," Jessica teased while opening her locker and tossing in her things.

"Oh yeah. When we kissed, it was like I was kissing my brother." Jessica visibly shuddered at the thought.

"So that means he's available right," their curly, red haired friend, Janice asked, Jessica rolling her eyes in response.

As the three girls made their way through the crowded hallway to lunch, Dawn said to Jessica, "Now all we have to do is find you a guy."

At this, the young brunette laughed, "Yeah right, and where are we going to find him? All of these guys are too afraid of my brothers and Riley to approach me." As soon as she ended her sentence, she bumped into a body in front of her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. Coming in contact with pale, grayish blue eyes, she slowed down her steps, admiring the qualities of her male victim. She was suddenly glad that she was a klutz. The boy had a puppy dog look on his face but had on a shy, dimpled smile for her. For some reason, she just loved his soft, light brown hair that was styled with short spikes. He had a small, silver hoop on each ear lobe and he wore a gray short sleeve, collared shirt and khakis. He was definitely a hottie.

"Jessica! Come on," she heard Janice call for her, snapping her out of her stare off she was having with the guy. With one last smile, she quickly caught up with Dawn and Janice.

"I think we found your guy," teased Dawn.

As Jessica ran off, the boy that was still watching her leave, was shocked out of his reverie when he felt a hand clap on his shoulder. He looked up and saw that a smirking black guy was looming over him.

"Uh... Can I help you," the boy asked the other guy, who's leering and smirking made him quite uncomfortable.

"Yeah, what's your name, kid?"

"N-Noah Linus. I-I'm new," he hesitantly answered. He wasn't much of a people person.

"Well kid, I'm Forrest Banks," he then proceeded to drag the ever-so shy Noah to the cafeteria, "Your new best friend."

Against his own will, Noah was forced to follow Forrest to a table that seated his friends.

When they approached the table, a guy with dark, shaggy hair looked up at Forrest and Noah. He let out a snort of laughter and asked, "Hey Forrest, who's the loser," causing the three other guys sitting around him to stare at Forrest and his new companion.

Again, Forrest clapped Noah on the shoulder, "This is Nick."

"Noah," the shy boy corrected.

"Whatever," Forrest dismissed. He then pointed to the rude shaggy haired boy and introduced him as Parker; then he introduced his other friends Graham, Hamilton, and Larry.

"Stick with us kid. You'll go places," Forrest then shoved Noah into the empty seat between him and Parker. He slouched lower, shrinking under their gazes.

To try to avoid eye contact, Noah stared straight ahead. He brightened when the girl he bumped into came into his line of vision, laughing and talking with her friends.

Parker looked over to where Noah was staring and chuckled, "Oh no, no, no. Kid, that chick's not worth it."

Noah tore his eyes away from the object of his affection and turned to slightly glare at Parker, frustrated that they kept calling him "kid". "Why not?" he asked.

"Because," he tried to logic with him, "You see that guy over there," he pointed to Connor, who came up behind Jessica and kissed her on the cheek. They exchanged a few words with smiles on their faces before Connor stepped away, making his way to the vending machines that were located by Forrest and company's table.

Noah frowned a bit, "That her boyfriend?"

"Worse," Forrest answered, "Her brother. He looks scrawny, but he's tough. He lifted twice as much as the biggest guy in weight class," Noah's eyes widened, "But he's the least of your worries. She has three other brothers. Oz, he's level-headed, but touch his baby sister and he can do some damage. Same goes for Xander. Angel's the worst, though. He's very protective. I heard he sacked a guy he was half the size of just for saying hi to her."

Hamilton added to the rumors that were spread around school, "I heard the guy was in a coma for a week, and nearly snapped him into two." If it was possible, Noah's blue eyes got wider, "Not to mention that she has an older cousin, Riley," He smirked at Forrest, "I believe Forrest here had a little encounter with him a few weeks ago. I'm sure if he wasn't too busy doing other things, he would've made you part of the pavement."

Forrest glared at him and muttered, "I could've taken him." To which the guys, except for a shocked Noah, laughed hysterically at.

"Still, it would be great to get in between those smooth, shapely thighs. And have you seen the rack on that girl? God's gift to men I'm telling you," Larry commented, getting hearty agreements from the guys, Noah just glared.

"Shh...," Parker hushed them and smiled mischievously, seeing Connor about to pass their table to get to his own, "'Ey Connor! Come here." The boy paused to eye them suspiciously before walking over to them.

"What," he snapped once he reached the table.

"So Roarke, I got some questions about your sister," Parker began, preparing to provoke Connor. He knew Connor could beat him into a coma, but he was just naturally a jerk and couldn't help but commenting, "Is she naturally stacked and that little innocent thing she got going on, that's just an act right?"

"Excuse me," Connor viciously stared down Parker.

"Yeah, it must be," Larry joined in, "I heard that she was fast."

Connor's fists tightened , the cap of the soda he was holding was digging deeply in his palm.

"For your sake, I hope you mean 'as the wind.'" Connor was about to protect his sister's honor when he saw a boy about his age sitting with them, looking strangely out of place.

"Hey," he called out to Noah, his tone becoming friendly, "What's your name?"

"N-Noah Linus," he shyly responded, "I-I just transferred here from LA."

"Well, Noah, hanging out with these jerks was your first mistake. You can sit with us."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Noah quickly gathered his stuff and made his way to Connor's side.

Connor scoffed and looked upon the group of assholes with disgust before walking off with Noah. Shaking off his anger, he calmly introduced himself to his new friend. "I'm Connor Roarke," the two shook hands, "Sorry 'bout that back there."

"It's okay. You're tight with your sister, huh?"

"Yeah. She's my best friend and my twin, can't get any closer than that."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The older part of the gang was across the street for lunch, using the privilege of being a senior and eating off campus.

"Hey Angel, you gonna eat that cookie," Xander asked him, pointing to the abandoned treat lying in front of his brother.

Angel abandoned his task of nibbling Buffy's ear to look at Xander, down at the cookie, and then back to Xander.

"I'm saving it for later," he told him, turning his attentions back to his girlfriend. But Xander wouldn't let him get off that easily.

"No you're not. You just don't want me to have the cookie," he argued, making Angel veer his attention back to his annoying sibling.

"No, I want it later."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying!"

"Why don't you just give him the damn cookie," Riley butted in.

"Yeah man... it's just a cookie," added Gunn, the others watching on in amusement.

"Because it's mine," Angel lamely came up with.

"Angel has sharing issues," Oz explained, causing everyone to giggle.

Angel opened his mouth to retort but stopped when he heard Buffy softly call his name. Turning his head toward her, he saw her smiling up at him.

"Kiss me," she demanded, to which Angel obeyed.

"And that, ladies and gentleman, is a demonstration of how a whip is cracked," Spike baited. Angel flicked him off, not once breaking away from Buffy.

While they were kissing, Buffy discreetly slid the cookie towards Xander. Unfortunately, Angel caught this action and ripped away from her lips. "Hey! That's mine," he exclaimed. Xander taunted him by licking it and offering it back, Angel just narrowed his eyes, silently promising to get him back later.

"Oh pipe down you big baby," Cordelia said, "you weren't going to eat it anyway."

"Buffy!"

His girlfriend laughed at him and swatted his shoulder, "Geez Angel, It's just a cookie. You act like someone killed your best friend."

Silence enveloped them, seeing as how Xander, Oz, Angel, and Riley exchanged awkward and sad glances, Angel looking the saddest.

"Angel?"

He backed away from a confused Buffy, not making eye contact with her or anybody else at the table.

"I um... I gotta go. Can't be late for class." With that, Angel quickly walked back to the campus, leaving the others to stare at his retreating back.

"Geez, never seen someone so attached to a cookie," Cordelia broke the silence.

"Not now Cordelia," Xander spat, glaring at his girlfriend, effectively quieting her. He looked so serious, which was not normal, and that worried her.

Turning her questioning gaze back to her friends, Buffy knew she must've said something really offensive, because even Oz wore a deep frown on his face and that couldn't have been good.

"What just happened," she whispered.

TBC…


	15. That's why

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 14

/ _Flashback- 1989_

_For the first time in a long while, Donovan Roarke finally had gotten some time off from his busy schedule. He was about to take full advantage of that by taking a long needed nap on the comfy couch in his living room when the sounds of feet stampeding through the house and the voices of his three four-year-olds echoed through the house. _

"_Daddy," they all yelled simultaneously as they charged for him. Donovan grunted when the very rambunctious boys jumped on top of him._

_After a minor struggle, he managed to sit up with the giggling boys clutching his body. He smiled at his three sons and they all returned it with smiles similar to their mother's. They were triplets and they all looked alike, but like any good parent could, Donovan could tell them apart._

_Of course, he could tell which one was Daniel, or Oz as he was going by these days, right off the bat. The boy had his red hair and blue eyes, just like him. He liked to annoy his wife, Bella, with the fact that at least one of his children looked like him._

_With Xander and Angel, it was a little bit harder to tell them apart, but it was the minor details that helped him differentiate the two. Although both of them had brown hair and eyes like Isabella, Angel had always been slightly bigger than Xander, having being the oldest one out of the three. Also, while Xander was more playful and humorous, Angel acted more serious and was actually pretty wise for a four-year-old._

"_What can I do for you boys," Donovan questioned the triplets, pushing aside the nap to have a moment with his sons._

"_We was just wondering if it was okay if we go outside to play," Angel answered for all three of them._

"_Yeah Daddy. Can we please," Xander begged while bouncing up and down from his seat on the couch. He was always more hyper than the other two._

"_I don't know," Donovan drawled out playfully, "Do you know what the rules are for playing outside?"_

"_We sure do, Daddy," Oz boasted proudly._

"_You do," the three nodded, "What are they then?"_

"_Don't run out on the street," Xander said first._

"_Don't talk to strangers," Oz said next._

"_And to stay in front of the house where you and Mommy can see us," Angel finished off._

"_Right, and no biting," their father joked, causing the three to erupt in laughter at Donovan's silly comment. "Okay. Go ahead and play outside you little monsters." The three cheered happily and ran for the front door._

_The triplets had unanimously decided to play a little kickball first before playing any other game. They were currently kicking around a blue rubber ball when Xander kicked it a little too hard and had Angel chasing it into the next yard despite what his dad said about wandering away from the house._

_When Angel finally caught up to the ball, he looked up and met the blue eyes of a sad little boy sitting on their next door neighbor's, Mrs. Crenshaw, porch._

"_Hi," Angel greeted, "I'm Angel. What's your name?" When the dark haired little boy didn't answer, Angel tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, "Don't you have a name?"_

"_I have a name," the little boy finally answered with a thick Irish accent, "My name is Doyle."_

_Angel let out a small joyous laugh, "You talk just like my daddy. He's from I-land. Are you from I-land, too?" Doyle nodded. "Why are you sitting on Mrs. Crenshaw's porch? She don't like kids too much."_

"_She's my aunt," Doyle sadly replied, "Me and my mom had to move in with her for a little while before we get a place of our own."_

"_Oh." Angel turned his head when he heard the sounds of Xander and Oz calling for him. "Those are my brothers," Angel told Doyle as they approached them, "That one is Xander and he's Oz. Look guys! I made a new friend. His name is Doyle, he's from I-land, just like Daddy."_

_Angel's brothers happily said hi and Doyle shyly said it back._

"_Why do you all three look alike," Doyle questioned them as he stood up to their height._

"'_Cause we're chiplets," Xander answered, "We all came out of our mommy's belly at the same time."_

"_I'm the oldest," Angel boasted._

"_Only by three minutes," Xander argued._

"_So? Mommy said I was first so that makes me the oldest." Xander stuck his tongue and Angel stuck his right back at him._

"_I don't have any brothers," Doyle said._

"_You can have one of mine," Angel offered, "I have lots. We also have a sister, but you can't have her. Daddy said we have to keep her away from other boys."_

"_We can't tell Mommy that, though," Oz continued, "She gets all upset when Daddy tells us that."_

"_Do you wanna play with us," Angel asked Doyle, "We're gonna play Army Soldiers."_

"_Ok," Doyle accepted and then proceeded to follow the three boys into their yard._

_Before they started their game, a man with auburn hair stepped out of the house with a small brown haired boy clutching his left pant leg and a little girl in pig tails on his hip._

"_Daddy," Angel exclaimed and gestured for Doyle to follow him to his father, "This is Doyle," he introduced him, "He's from I-land like you. He's gonna be my new best friend."_

_Donovan took Doyle's small hand and they exchanged a friendly hand shake. "Nice to meet you Doyle. Angel, aren't you going to introduce your little brother and sister?"_

"_Oh yeah. That's Connor and that's Jessica. They're only two, so they can't play big kid games with us."_

"_Well, since you're going to be Angel's new best friend, you are welcome to come anytime you want, Doyle," Donovan said, "You two go ahead and play your big kid game. I'll be right here with the little ones on the porch."_

_Without another word, the two ran off to join Xander and Oz in their game of Army Soldiers./_

Angel kept replaying the day he met his best friend in his head as he laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The other memory going through his mind was the very last day he saw or talked to Doyle. What Buffy said had put him in total brood mode.

After lunch, he tried his best to avoid any of his friends, even Buffy. He knew his mood hurt Buffy and he hated that, but he really didn't want to talk to anybody. His sour mood also effected his family. The car ride home was silent and awkward despite the music in the background.

As soon as he got home, he went directly to their basement where the was a mini gym set up for them to work out his frustrations.

It was after his long, steamy shower that lead him up to the position he was in now; a sad, brooding vegetable.

Hearing a knock on the door, he sighed, his eyes glued to the spot above him. "I'm not hungry Mom," he called out. Despite what he said, there was another knock. His eyes finally abandoned the ceiling and rolled toward the door. "I'm not hungry," he repeated, only louder this time, but the knocking just repeated itself, too.

Frustrated, he got off the bed and stomped his way over to the door, figuring it was one of his siblings trying to lure him out of his room by annoying him to death, again.

"I said I'm not...," right after opening the door, his anger melted into surprise when he found Buffy on the other side. "Buffy. What are you doing here?"

The small blonde started to fiddle with her hands and focused her hazel eyes on the oriental rug she was standing on in the hallway.

"Y-you turned off your phone," was the only response she came up with. They both stood there for awhile, not knowing what to say at the moment.

Finally, Angel found the words that he was searching for, "Buffy...," He stopped in mid-sentence and looked passed her when he heard a thump from across the hall. What he saw were three pairs of prying eyes peaking through Xander's slightly opened bedroom door. When they noticed they were caught, he heard Xander, Connor, and Jessica's voices harshly whispering to each other.

"Oh shit!"

"They're looking at us!"

"Shut the door, Crack-head!"

As soon as the door was slammed shut, Angel shook his head, "Sorry about them," he opened the door wider and stepped aside, "You can come in."

He gave them privacy by closing the door once she entered the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. After a beat, he walked the short distance that separated them and sat next to her.

Buffy tentatively reached over and grasped his hand, relieved that he didn't try to shake it off, but gripped her hand tighter.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong," she softly asked.

Angel sighed, "What you said at lunch... it just brought back bad memories."

The blonde slumped her shoulders, feeling guilty for hurting him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"I know. It's okay."

There was another bout of silence between them before Buffy asked, "What happened?" Knowing what she was asking of, he took a deep breath before starting his story.

"Over two years ago, my best friend, Doyle, was, um… He was killed by a drunk driver while we walking home from a party."

"Oh God," Buffy gasped, "I am so sor-"

Angel cut her off again by grasping her hand and saying, "Wait, there's more.

"I always blamed myself for his death. The car was coming towards me, but I didn't get hit because he shoved me out of the way. Luckily, the driver had sobered up enough to call 911, but it was too late. After his death, I just cracked and started to lash out because of the fact that two people very important to me had died right in my arms. It was around that time that I met this girl named Gwen. She's the one that lead me towards this dark path. She taught me about stealing, staying out late, how, um, using people for sex could be a good thing. We'd party hard with lots of alcohol and we even smoked pot. I was either drunk or high every night.

"Throughout those long months, the only ones who had faith in me was my mom and Jessica. But Jessica, she was my light. Every night she would wait for me to come home, no matter how late it was. She would wait for me just to make sure I made it through the night. When I actually did come home, I'd find her on my bed. We'd just stared at each other for a minute, and she would just walk away with sadness in her eyes. When I didn't come home after a day and a half, the family had a little intervention. They each told me how much I mean to them and the way I was going was not a very good path to follow. When Jessica's turn came up, she looked at me coldly and just said "You're dead to me" before walking off to her room. It was her words and the look on her face that began to break down the wall I put up and made me want to seek out some help. It was a long while before I could get back in everyone's good graces again. Especially my sister's. Eventually I learned that I shouldn't blame myself for things I can't control, and there are better ways to deal with issues."

"Oh Angel, I am so sorry," Buffy sincerely apologized again, feeling that she really put her big ass foot into her big ass mouth.

She felt Angel's pain and wrapped her arms around her tightly. He responded in kind and kissed her neck softly. When he lifted his head back up, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers.

"From now on," she whispered, "can you tell me when something's bothering you? I was really worried about you today."

He nodded and stared into her eyes that always changed from green to blue, "I promise," he vowed.

"Good... So you'll tell me anything," she prodded.

"Just ask."

"Okay. Then," she loosened her hold on him but didn't leave the comfort of his arms. Not losing eye contact, she suddenly smirked at him, "Tell me about your cookie issues."

Angel bursted out laughing, remembering the earlier argument he had with Xander.

"I don't have cookie issues," he claimed. Buffy raised her eyebrows, "I don't! That's how me and Xander bond. We argue. It's been that way ever since we learned how to talk."

Buffy smiled at him, glad to see that his mood changed. She glanced at his alarm clock, "Oh, I have to go. I was supposed to get stuff from the store."

Reluctantly, Angel allowed Buffy to leave his embrace, "I'll walk you out." He stood up and took her hand. Walking her out of the bedroom and down the stairs, they stopped briefly so Buffy could say bye to everybody. Including the three nosey ones who had ventured downstairs to join Oz in the tv room after they got caught.

"Your birthday's next week," Angel pointed out once they got to her car. He was currently leaning in her open window, while she sat in the driver's seat.

"So it is."

"What do you want?"

"You," Buffy purred, making Angel suddenly feel like he needed a cold shower.

Angel gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before saying, "I don't have a box big enough for me. Plus, knowing my siblings, they'll be way too enthusiastic to lock me in a box. And that worries me."

Buffy giggled, "Whatever you give me, I'll love it." She turned on her engine, getting ready to drive off, and then gave him one last kiss before she sped off into the night.

TBC…


	16. Happy Birthday Buffy!

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 15

"Angel?"

"Yes?"

"Are we there yet?"

Angel smirked at his girlfriend sitting next to him as he drove his convertible. She was currently blindfolded and she didn't seem to like it one bit.

"No, but we'll be there soon." He then focused his attention back to the road.

"Good," she fidgeted in her seat and wrinkled her nose, "Because I'm starting to get dizzy with this stupid thing on." She fingered the thick, black cloth tied tightly over her eyes. She was tempted to tear it off, but she knew it would upset Angel if she ruined his birthday surprise planned for her.

"Buffy, you've only had on for a little over a minute."

"Doesn't mean it's been the most enjoyable minute of my life," she argued. She heard her boyfriend laughing at her, so she punched him on the nearest body part of his, which was his shoulder.

"Hey! Unless you wanna spend your birthday in an airbag because we got into an accident, I suggest you don't hit the driver."

"Then I suggest you don't laugh at the girlfriend," Buffy shot back. She felt the car make a left turn and then stop.

"Okay, we're here, but don't take off the blindfold. Alright?"

Buffy pouted and crossed her arms, "Fine," she unhappily agreed. Angel leaned over and kissed her pouty lips.

"Wait right here," he told her and got out of the car.

"Where else would I go with this stupid thing on," she mumbled to herself. She heard Angel open her door, then he lightly grabbed her hand and helped her out of the car.

"You're just doing this to take funny pictures of me," she stated as Angel guided her to where ever they were going.

"I am not. Okay stop right here." She halted in her steps and waited for Angel to take off the offending piece of fabric tied around her head.

"Ready," he asked as he untied the knot, but kept it over her eyes.

"Angel! Get it off of me already!" He finally obeyed her and uncovered her eyes. She jumped and gasped in surprise at the sight before her. In front of her was the greatest view of the park's lake. The light of the setting sun reflected off the rippling water. Tiki torches were already lit around the area and twinkle lights hung from the trees. But amongst all of that were the mass of family and friends gathered around, smiling at her.

"Surprise," they all yelled.

Buffy beamed in delight, "Oh my gosh...this... is so sweet. Thank you guys!"

She turned around and threw her arms around Angel, first. After she kissed him on the cheek, she took his hand and dragged him along as she greeted her guests.

"Happy Birthday, baby," Joyce said to her older daughter as they embraced.

Joining in the hug, Giles kissed his newly turned eighteen-year-old on top of her blonde head. "Yes, happy birthday, dear," he greeted.

"Don't forget me," they heard a voice whine. Dawn forced herself into the family hug and gave Buffy a squeeze to the waist with the arm she wrapped around her big sister, also giving her own greetings to the birthday girl.

"So who's idea was this," Buffy questioned once the family let go of each other.

"Well, us, but it was Angel who came up with the setting," Joyce answered, smiling at the boy that captured Buffy's heart.

Once again, Buffy turned around and threw her arms around Angel, "It's beautiful," she told him.

He leaned in closer and pressed his forehead against hers. "Anything for you."

"I think we lost them," muttered Joyce to her husband, to which he just shook his head in response, leading the rest of his family away to leave the couple alone. But their cute little moment was interrupted when Angel felt silly string being sprayed on the back of his head.

Whipping around he found Gunn red handed with a mischievous grin on his face and a can in his hand. Throwing down most of the pink colored string that stuck to his hair, neck, and back, Angel glared back at his buddy and growled, "You better run, Gunn."

"And what are you gonna do?" Gunn challenged, "I don't think Buffy feels like beating anybody up for you on her birthday." Immediately after taunting Angel, Gunn quickly sprinted away with an angry brunette on his tail.

* * *

A couple hours later, Angel and Buffy secluded themselves away from the party that was still going on. They sat cuddling close to the edge of the lake, looking up at the beautiful night sky.

"So are you having a good birthday?" Angel softly said into Buffy's ear.

She leaned her head back against his shoulder and looked up at him. She laughed when she spotted something pink in his brown hair. Plucking it out and throwing the piece of silly string that Angel missed, she answered, "The best."

"Good," he kissed the side of her head. "I have something for you."

"Ooh! A present!" She turned around and faced him anxiously, "Hand it over or no one gets hurt."

Angel laughed at her playful eagerness while reaching into his pocket and pulling out a square box. It was wrapped in shiny, green paper and was topped off with a silver bow that was slightly smooshed since it was in has pocket for a while.

He handed it over to her and watched with nervous eyes as she lifted the lid.

She let out a gasp when she revealed what was inside. "Angel, it's beautiful." In the box was a dainty gold necklace with the prettiest charm she had ever seen. It was a single stemmed rose attached across the top of a small gold heart, the petals of the flower were outlined with small diamonds.

"I love it, thank you." She laid a gentle, lingering kiss on his lips before handing him the box so he can put the necklace on her.

Angel removed it from the thick layer of cotton and draped the chain around her neck and then clasped it securely.

When he was done, she turned back around to gaze into his brown eyes.

"I love you," he softly said to her.

She smiled broadly at him. It was the first time he had said that and she felt exactly the same way. "I love you, too," she returned.

Again, they drifted closer together and poured all the emotions they were both feeling for the other into their kiss. Quickly, the kiss increased its intensity, stirring up other feelings in Angel that made him break away from her before he cracked.

Both of them were breathing hard as Angel suggested, "We should head back."

"Do we have to," she whined, sounding like a five-year-old.

"Can't have a birthday party without the birthday girl." He stood up, taking Buffy up with him.

"Fine," she sighed disappointedly. They both dusted off their pants before walking back to the party hand and hand.

"Hey, we were just coming to get you," Tara said when she and Spike met them half-way. "They want to do the cake and song thing now."

"You know Buff," Spike said as they turned back around to walk with Buffy and Angel, "If you want, there can be an after party kegger. A few phone calls and I can make it happen."

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Thanks Spike, but I think I've had enough keggers."

"You can never have enough keggers, Love"

Catching Spike off guard, his sister smacked him on the back of his head and scolded him. "Stop using Buffy's birthday as an excuse to get people drunk."

Rubbing the sore spot Tara had left, Spike tried to ignore Buffy and Angel's smirking and laughing, and muttered, "The cake better be good."

TBC…


	17. Visiting Hours

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 16

"You owe me one," Jessica declared to Dawn as they pulled into the parking lot of the local skate park. Jessica had borrowed her mom's SUV so she could go with Dawn to meet up with her new boyfriend, Pete. That left the big house free of any teenagers, making it easy for Isabella to relax and enjoy one of her rare and much deserved day offs.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dawn dismissed as she quickly inspected herself in the mirror and then exited the vehicle. "Besides," she continued while the duo walked over to the skaters, "Connor might've needed a ride."

"True," her friend agreed.

A devilish grin spread over Dawn's face, "And Noah's here so technically, I did YOU a favor." She nudged the brunette's shoulder playfully.

Jessica smiled shyly and blushed, "Shut up, we're just friends." But it was true, she did like the boy that had just recently transferred from LA, but the both of them were too shy to make a move on each other.

"Yeah. Right. That's what Buffy and Angel said. Now I have to yodel or something before entering a room so I don't have to experience anymore nauseating PDA's."

"Not that it helps any," Jessica half-joked. Those two were the most affectionate couple on Earth. They were like candy... sweet, but if you have too much, you end up getting all queasy and throwing up on the floor. Though, that didn't seem to bother the two at all. Even the parents saw how close they were getting and didn't allow them to be alone in the room for more than a few minutes.

As the two approached closer to the park, Dawn spotted her boyfriend talking to a couple of unrecognizable girls, and stared at them incredulously.

"What the hell is he doing? Who are those skanks," she exclaimed.

Jessica raised her eyebrows at her jealous friend, recognizing her behavior when she had a thing for Connor. "You're really the jealous type aren't you?"

"Well, yeah! You just figured that out," Dawn quickly looked at her companion as if she was the one acting crazy. Jessica was actually amazed that Dawn didn't even try to deny the fact that she was the poster child of jealousy.

"Dawn, calm down and breathe," Jessica said, pausing to demonstrate deep soothing breaths, "I can guarantee that Pete has zero interest in those girls."

Her friend threw a glare at her best friend before looking back at her boyfriend and the two girls. "How do you know that!"

"Well, for one," she started off slowly, talking to Dawn as if she had severe mental problems, which at that moment, she was starting to suspect that she actually did have some, "Those two girls... they're sixth graders." Jessica could see that her friend was calming down some, actually seeing how young the girls were, but there still was a bit of red and green in her blue eyes. "And plus, that's Pete's little sister, Vivian, and their cousin Mary."

The anger then totally drained from the girl's face and a frown was set in place, "Oh." There was a pause and then a wide grin split Dawn's face and she let out a perky, "Okay!" before she ran off to say hello to Pete.

Jessica rubbed her temple and shook her head, mumbling to herself, "I swear... the girl is bi-polar."

She spotted her brother on one of the ramps and waved, starting to walk towards him. As soon as she stepped a few paces forward, she heard someone yell, "Look out!" before being almost instantly tackled to the ground. Luckily, she landed on the grass and it softened her fall, but unfortunately she was the one that broke the fall of the guy that was on top of her.

"Oh my God. I am so sorry," a familiar voice apologized from above her. "Are you okay?"

Jessica let out a groan and answered, "I'm good," she opened her dark eyes and came to see Noah Linus' light gray-blue eyes looking down at her.

Noah, realizing the position they were in, stood and helped the girl up.

"I didn't hurt you did I," he asked, the concern he felt for her was evident in his voice. His gaze never left hers, even when he bent down to pick up his skateboard.

"Not really," she confessed, but then winced and grabbed her side as a sudden rush of pain hit her, "Um… Actually, can we sit down for a bit?"

Noah nodded and guided her to nearby park bench. After her watching her breathe deeply in and out, he cast his eyes to the ground. "I can't believe I rammed into you like that. I feel so bad."

"Don't. It's okay," Jessica reassured him, the pain slowly receding, "I'm fine."

He rubbed the top of his black, backwards cap he wore on his head, "I still feel bad."

"Fine. If I end up with some broken ribs, then I'll send you the hospital bill," she joked.

Noah laughed and shook her hand, "Deal."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Connor," a boy with curly blonde hair rolled up behind the young Roarke, "Look at that," the boy, Preston, nodded his head towards the other side of the park.

"What," Connor turned his head in the direction his friend was gesturing to. His crystal, blue eyes fell on his sister laughing with his new friend, Noah as they sat too close to each other for his tastes.

"Dude's totally macking on your sister, Bro," Preston pointed out with a smirk, knowing how protective the Roarke brothers were of their precious baby sister, "I didn't know we can do that," he teased.

Connor momentarily abandoned staring blankly at the two and turned to scowl at his friend, the protective brother mode kicking in again.

Preston put his hands up in defense, "I'm just saying, man... your sister's hot."

Connor just shoved the laughing blonde forward. "Just shut up and skate, Pres." He cast one more glance towards Noah and Jessica, and shook his head before following Preston down the ramp.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xander Roarke was exhausted, and he could just feel the vein in his forehead pulsing, caused by the stress he was experiencing. It was a busy day at work, and busy equaled insanity.

Everywhere, there were little kids and teenagers surrounding his workplace asking him to cash in their tickets or to help them with the malfunctioning machine they were using. Different tunes played from different games, making one big annoying, unsynchronized symphony. Normally, the sounds and activities of the arcade never bothered Xander, but on stressful days like these was when he felt like going on a rampage.

He thanked God that his co-workers, Jimmy and Karen were there with him, otherwise, he would crack if he was alone.

He was currently collecting prizes for a little girl when he saw a sight for sore eyes enter the arcade.

Xander placed the little girl's winnings in front of her and moved to the other side.

"Boy am I glad to see you three." He smiled at Cordelia, Willow, and Buffy.

"Hi Xander," Willow and Buffy said. Xander smiled at them and then leaned over the glass counter to quickly kiss Cordelia.

"So, what brings you ladies here?"

"We were shopping and thought we would stop by and see how you were doing," Cordelia answered, sweetly smiling at her boyfriend.

"We're making rounds," Willow added, "After this, we're gonna visit your brothers at the garage."

"Also, we wanted to see if you still wanted to go on that group date to that Mexican restaurant that just opened."

"Now why do we have to go to some over-priced restaurant when we could just go to Taco Bell for the same food," Xander said, causing Cordelia to glare at him.

"Because it's classier and an actual restaurant; it's not the same."

"I still think Taco Bell is better."

"Alexander Harris Roarke! We are not going to a stupid Taco Bell because you are tight with your money!"

Before Xander could argue and make things uglier, Buffy cut in, "It's crazy in here, Xand. How you holding up?"

Forgetting about the millionth argument he was about to have with is girlfriend, Xander scoffed, but again, he was prevented from speaking when his co-worker, Jimmy, came up behind him and clapped his shoulder.

"Hey Xander, you gonna introduce me to your friends," Jimmy waggled his eyebrows in suggestion. He had curly red hair and was in dire need of Proactiv products for his face.

"Sure. Guys, this is Jimmy. Jimmy this is my girlfriend Cordelia, and that's Buffy and Willow."

"Hello Ladies," Jimmy said with a seductive tone towards Buffy and Willow.

The blonde and redheaded girls looked at each other before simultaneously saying, "Taken!"

"Uh yeah...sorry man," Xander apologized, "But those two are my brothers' girls."

Jimmy had a disappointed look on his face, but he quickly shrugged it off, and playfully glared at his co-worker/friend.

"Dude, next time, make sure your single friends visit you." He faced the three girls, "It was nice to meet you. Xander, sorry but you need to get back to work." With a sympathetic grin and a nod, Jimmy left the four to attend to the kids.

Xander sighed before returning his attention back to his visitors, "Remind me again why I took this job." He then winced when a siren went off, indicating that someone had hit the jackpot on one of the games.

"Hmm... Good pay and unlimited use of the arcade games," Willow replied.

"Not to mention a ten percent discount off of any product in the store," Cordelia happily added. The ten percent wasn't that much, but even the word 'discount' just made her all giddy inside.

"Right," Xander relented, exhaling deeply.

"Do you want anything before we leave," Cordelia offered, reaching out and rubbing her hand over the short sleeve of his gray uniform golf shirt he wore.

"No thanks. Jessica called and said she'd be coming by soon to drop off something.," he paused to rethink his refusal. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if one of you had some Tylenol in those purses."

Willow and Buffy shook their heads while Cordelia said, "Sorry. Only Midol."

Xander frowned, "Never mind. Sorry I asked."

"Alright," Buffy said, "Well, then, off to the coal mines with ya!"

With a roll of his eyes, Xander sarcastically and dully replied, "Heigh ho heigh ho. It's off to work I go."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While stocking some newly shipped in air fresheners on the shelves, Oz silently went over lyrics of a Dingoes' song in his head, ignoring the soft eighties music that played throughout the store.

Suddenly, the bell on top of the door rang, signaling a customer had just walked in. Out of instinct, Oz paused to see who just entered. With a hint of a smile on his face, he placed the box he was handling on the ground and walked over to the entryway.

Immediately, he threw his arms around his favorite red headed girl, and nodded to the other two girls who entered with her.

"Angel's in the garage," Oz automatically told Buffy, reading her mind.

A smile on her face, Buffy thanked Oz and went to the interlocked garage, Cordelia training behind.

As soon as they walked through the doors, they were hit with the sounds of drills, clanking of metal on metal, and a radio playing the music of some old rock group.

Buffy and Cordelia walked up to a middle-aged bald man fixing something under the hood of a station wagon.

"Hey Uncle Carter," Buffy sweetly said to the man, catching his attention.

He lifted his grease-smudged face from the engine at the sound of the girl's voice and smiled. He put down the tool he was holding and wiped his dirty hands on the worn out rag he had in his pocket. Rounding the front of the car, he took the daughter of his old friend's in his arms.

Ethan Devlin Carter and Rupert Giles Summers had been friends since they were wee little lads in England. The two were inseparable. As soon as they were old enough, they both got tickets to California and made the transition from England together. Carter was always there for Giles through the ups and downs and vice versa. He had been there when Giles had fallen for both Jenny Calender, a teacher at the local high school, and Joyce Saunders, an art student; he was also there when Giles had to make the difficult choice between the two. Looking at how happy his friend was now, he had no doubt that Giles chose the right one.

"Hello Lovely. How's my favorite Goddaughter today," he asked when they ended their hug, he keeping his left arm around her shoulders.

"Peachy with a side of keen," she answered in her usual Buffy way.

"So what time is your old man supposed to be returning from Dallas?" Giles had gone on a trip to Texas a few days ago to do some sort of business for the bookstore he owned. It really didn't catch Buffy's interest when her father was talking about it.

"Mom is picking him up from the airport around ten tonight."

"Excellent. Well anyway, I think I know what you're here for," he grinned.

"Really," she pretended as if it wasn't obvious.

"Of course. Is that it?" He pointed to Angel who was also fixing something under the hood of a dark green Toyota Corolla. He obviously didn't notice that his love and friend had entered the garage, being so occupied with is work.

Smiling happily at her surrogate uncle, she kissed his cheek in thanks, signaling him to get back to work. As they reached her boyfriend, the blonde gestured Cordy and anyone in the garage that was looking to keep quiet as they snuck up behind him.

Buffy tip-toed quietly and paused before surprisingly grabbing a handful of Angel's ass, causing the tall, dark, and handsome teenager to jump and almost drop the tool in his hand, catching him off guard.

He whirled around, about to give the person who just violated him a piece of his mind, when he came across his girlfriend and Cordelia trying to hold in their laughter.

"You know, sexual harassment is really frowned upon in these parts," Angel teased, a serious tone in his voice, but one of his cute half smiles was on his face.

"Sorry," Buffy apologized, but didn't sound even a bit sincere. "I just couldn't resist. Your butt was just begging to be grabbed," then after some thought, she added, "By me."

"Well in that case," Angel resumed his former position while looking over his shoulder, "Do as you will."

"Ew," Cordelia said, making her presence known, "So not gonna comment."

"Then don't," Angel bluntly replied, looking at the saucy brunette, while he still leaned over the open hooded car.

Cordelia glared at Angel, choosing not to verbally respond to his remark. "Ugh Angel. How can you work at a place like this?" She held herself tighter, as if that would help protect her from the grease and dirt that infested the garage.

"Like this," Angel then proceeded to work on the engine just to play around with Cordelia.

"Whatever. Just make sure you go to Josefina's with us tonight. Eight 'o' clock. Don't be late," she then looked him up down, grimacing at the dirty coveralls he was wearing, "And please Angel... Take a shower and don't wear that."

"Aye aye Captain Cordy," Angel mock saluted, standing up straight.

"Good boy," she nodded in satisfaction.

"I could've told him that myself, Cordelia," Buffy said, slightly annoyed that she was cutting into her and Angel's alone time.

"I had to make sure you wouldn't get distracted by Don Juan over there."

"Thanks," she bitterly replied.

"No problem," Cordy dismissed the tone in her voice, "Well, I'll be in the store with Oz and Willow if you need me."

Right after Cordelia left, Angel leaned in and softly kissed his girlfriend, pulling away before it could intensify. He was mindful of the watchful gaze of Buffy's godfather, he being the eyes and ears of Mr. Summers when he wasn't around. Not to mention that Mr. Carter was his boss.

Angel kept his hands away from her body, leaving them at his sides.

"Sorry I can't hug you," he held up his dirty hands smeared with black, "I don't want you to get all dirty."

"Well then," she slid her arms around his waist, "I'll just have to hug you myself." She hated not having any physical contact with him. Every time they parted it was like she felt empty inside, and it was getting harder and harder to say goodbye to him.

He kissed her on her forehead before telling Carter that he was going on a break, and dragged a giggling Buffy to the back for some "real" alone time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A half hour later, the couple re-emerged, Buffy leaving Angel to get back to work.

When she joined the others in the store, she was immediately laughed at by Cordelia and Willow; Oz then informing her of the grease she was covered in from Angel's wandering hands.

"Buffy, I think you missed a spot," Cordelia told her as she drove her car back to her house.

The blonde blushed while Cordelia and Willow giggled, wiping the area on her cheek where Cordy had pointed to.

"You and Angel are getting pretty close, huh," Willow said from her place in the backseat, leaning forward so she was in the middle of her two best friends.

"Ooh... You want to take the next step, don't you?" Cordelia smirked, partly teasing her.

Confused, Willow darted her eyes between Cordelia and, for the umpteenth time that day, a blushing Buffy.

"The next step," Willow questioned, "What's the...," she trailed off, the answer finally registering in her innocent brain. "Oh," her blue eyes widened, "Oh! The next... wow. You mean you want to... with Angel?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. It's all so new to me," Buffy told them, "Help me out here, guys."

Willow sympathetically leaned her head against Buffy's, "I wish I could, but me and Oz aren't ready for that, yet. Even though he's already... We're still in the cuddly puppy stage."

"Cordelia," the blonde turned to her other best friend for some advice.

"Sorry Buff, but me and Xander haven't had sex yet either. We've come close, though."

Buffy pouted, disappointed that her friends couldn't help her. Letting out a sigh, she stared out the window, brooding, as her boyfriend would do, about the new situation that had came into her life.

TBC…


	18. Casa De Roarke

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 17

"Hey Buffy," Oz greeted his brother's girlfriend at the front door, moving aside to let her in. Without a word, besides saying hi, Buffy followed Oz, knowing that he was leading her to where Angel was.

There was a faint sound of salsa music in the large house, and it only got louder as they approached the kitchen.

She stopped in the wide doorway and smiled as she watched the touching scene before her.

Angel, Xander, Connor, Jessica, and Mrs. Roarke were all laughing and dancing joyously to the salsa beat as Mrs. Roarke and Angel prepared dinner. Oz even stopped for a second to spin his sister around on his way to the fridge. Buffy truly adored this family. It was clear to see that they were a tightly woven bunch. It seemed as if even with all that had happened in their lives, nothing could bring them down.

"Hey Buffy," they all chorused, finally noticing the blonde in the entryway. Angel signaled Connor to take over the vegetable chopping and walked over to his girlfriend, giving her a sweet kiss when he reached her.

Buffy let out a squeal as Angel, out of nowhere, spun her out, brought her back to his body, and dramatically dipped her. As she smiled up at him, she couldn't believe how lucky she was to find someone like Angel. He was everything she could hope for and then some. She was even embarrassed to say that she had to catch herself from singing "What a Man" by Salt 'N' Peppa and doing a cheesy little dance whenever she thought of him.

"'Ey Loverboy," they heard Jessica's voice call out to him as she turned down the music, "Less PDA, more cooking."

"Yeah come on Monkey Boy! Chop chop! We're hungry," Xander added.

Isabella gave warning glances toward two of her mischievous children, "Alexander, Jessica... Leave them be. They're cute."

Angel shot a smug look towards Xander and Jessica, who just childishly stuck their tongues out back at him, murmuring something along the lines of "Mama's Boy."

"You cook," Buffy questioned him when he left her embrace to go back to the hot stove and she sat on a stool next to Oz.

"One of my many talents," he smirked at Buffy. He then retrieved the vegetables that Connor had just finished chopping and put them in a pot of boiling water.

"Hmm... and very talented you are," she gushed, ignoring the disgusted groans around her, "Is there anything you don't do," she stared admiringly at him.

"Sing," the four voices of Angel's siblings answered casually for him.

Angel gasped in denial, "What! I can sing!"

"Ha! Not well," Connor said and then proceeded to mock him by joining in a horribly sung rendition of "Mandy" with Jessica and Xander.

"Hey," Angel yelled while they were all laughing, including Buffy, "I so don't sound like that. Mom, don't you think I have a nice singing voice?"

Isabella stared at her eldest son by several minutes for a few beats with pursed lips. Deciding to keep her mouth shut, she looked at the blonde who was trying to stop laughing for her boyfriend's sake.

"So Buffy," she asked, obviously avoiding the question, "Are you staying for dinner?" Feeling rejected, Angel scoffed and returned to his cooking. He playfully threatened Jessica, who had just sidled up next to him, with the big metal spoon he was using, saying that they were lucky he wasn't going to spit in the food.

"Sure," Buffy responded to Isabella's question, "I mean, if that's okay."

"Nonsense Buffy," the kind mother of five squeezed her shoulders affectionately, "It's always okay." The two exchanged kind smiles, "Now do me a favor and make sure these guys don't cause severe mass destruction in here. I kinda like this house."

Buffy nodded, "Will do, Mrs. Roarke." With that said, Isabella took off to retreat herself in her office.

"You know, just for that comment, you get no dinner." Buffy caught the middle of the conversation between brother and sister. She quickly looked around and noticed that it was now only her, Jessica, Oz, and Angel in the kitchen. Xander and Connor had run outside to the backyard, probably testing out the half-pipe the two had finally finished.

Buffy and Oz traded amused stares as they listened to Angel and Jessica tease each other. Oz, being used to their banter, quickly lost interest and put his attention to the magazine in front of him.

"Fine," Jessica said with a care-free tone, "but when the day comes when Mom asks why I'm malnourished and looking like a sad Ethiopian child, I'm just gonna tell her it's all because you didn't feed me."

Angel shook his head and chuckled while stirring whatever was in the pot, the steam rising from it and swirling around him, "You're horrible, Jess."

Jessica made a pained look on her face and put a hand over her heart, groaning as if he actually stabbed her there. It was followed by smile and a giggle towards Buffy, who happily returned them.

"You guys are crazy," was Buffy's only comment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Isabella rushed around her bedroom throwing some things into a small suitcase, five pairs of blue and brown eyes watched intently from her bed. While she frantically packed her necessities, she went over some rules to abide while she was gone.

Isabella had received a call from a New York hospital and was told that she was needed for a few special procedures that only required the best surgeons, and was needed right away.

Being too busy with packing and spewing out rules, she didn't see the devious looks on her children's faces. They were thinking of all the different opportunities that they would get while their mother was away for no longer than a week. It gave them freedom to do whatever they want... just as long as they didn't get caught.

"... Lorne should be here soon. He's going to be staying with you kids so you guys won't get into any trouble." At that, the Roarke siblings' happy expressions fell, their unsupervised plans going to waste. But on the upside, Lorne was a bit of a pushover, so there was still some hope.

"... And Uncle George and Aunt Emily will be checking up on you guys frequently so you won't be able to take advantage of Lorne," she continued, like most good mothers, knowing how her children's minds worked.

This time, Isabella heard collective cries and groans of displeasure, a triumphant grin spread on her face, their plans now totally soiled.

"Come on Mom," Connor cried, "don't you think we're a little too old for babysitters?"

"Yeah Ma," Xander rang in, "Don't you trust us?"

She turned around to sternly look at her offspring and crossed her arms.

All she needed to say was, "Do I need to remind you of Spring Break of 2001," and she had all of them looking ashamed and shaking their heads in refusal. Well the boys that is. Her only daughter had a grin on her face and a gleam in her eye.

Jessica laughed and said, "Dude, remember when Faith and I made that Butterball turkey explode? That was so friggin' awesome." Looking around, her grin faded when she saw that her family was clearly unamused and glaring at her. "Sorry," she mumbled and gazed down at the flowery comforter.

"That was three years ago, Mom," Xander argued, "We've matured," their mother snorted, and he just repeated more forcefully, "We've matured. Can't you, you know, just let it go?"

Isabella had a thoughtful expression on her face, looking as if she were caving in, giving the teenagers hope, again. It was shattered when Isabella regained her stern look and firmly answered, "No."

Not giving up, the kids decided to bring out the big guns and have no mercy. The four boys poked at their sister and gestured for her to do her thing.

Jessica crawled off the bed and slowly approached their mom, a look of innocence on her face. Her lip jutted out in a pout and her eye's wide and glossy like a puppy's. She wrapped her arms around Isabella's waist and snuggled into her shoulder.

"Please Mommy?" she said with a baby's voice.

Isabella smiled and put a hand on her daughter's cheek, bringing her "innocent" face to look at hers, "Aww Baby," she said sweetly and then maintained the firm tone in her voice, "No."

Just when she thought it was over and they had finally waved their white flags, her boys donned the same pitiful face as their sister, except for Oz of course, and all wrapped themselves around their mother, trapping her in the middle.

"Aww...," came a new voice, "That's so sweet. It's like a scene from Full House. Only less cheesy."

"Sweet my butt, Lorne," Isabella objected when she saw that her friend had let himself in, she was still trapped in the tight circle of her devious children, "They're only hugging me so they can get their evil ways, but I can tell them right now that it's not working."

With a second round of groans, the teenagers finally gave up and retreated from the huddle.

"Yes I know. I'll miss you, too."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bored out of her mind, Jessica sighed and frowned at Dawn who was too busy with her studies to entertain her.

So after a few moments of just watching Dawn do school work, she finally decided to break the silence and asked the question that was burning in her mind for the last hour. "Were your parents hippies?"

Dawn looked up from her homework to stare at her friend with furrowed eyebrows, her question being rather random. "What?"

"Were your parents hippies?" Jessica repeated.

"Why? Where did that come from?"

"I was just thinking... 'Buffy and Dawn Summers'... They sound very hippy-ish to me."

The light-haired brunette shrugged, "Well my dad did go through this one weird phase when he was younger, but he was one of those guys who'd beat down the peace loving hippies."

After a lapse of silence, Jessica giggled, "Wouldn't it be funny if Anne was your middle name, too? Then you'd be Dawnie Anne Marie."

Dawn just looked confused while her best friend kept laughing at her own joke, "I don't get it."

"Dawnie Anne Marie? You know, like 'Donnie and Marie'," she tried to elaborate for her, but still didn't get the response she wanted. "As in 'the Osmonds'? They had freakishly big smiles and huge white teeth." When she still got no response she sighed and said, "They were in that Pepsi commercial with the Osbournes."

Finally, Dawn got it and her eyes widened and Jessica smirked, "You think your parents did it on purpose?"

With that, Dawn jumped out of the wooden chair and ran out the Roarkes' kitchen. She yelled for her sister who she knew was in the other room.

Laughing to herself, Jessica went back to her notebook, knowing that she probably made her friend upset towards her when she heard the truth, but it was all worth the amusement.

Behind her, Noah entered the kitchen, a panicking Dawn whizzed right by him and ignored his greeting.

"What was that all about," he got Jessica's attention, and hooked a thumb towards the direction Dawn left.

Jessica smiled and waved her hand in dismissal, "Don't mind her. A day without Dawn being a drama queen is like a day without sunshine. It's okay, though, I still love her." She then gestured for him to sit in the vacant seat next to her.

"What ya studying," Noah asked once he sat down. He leaned over and tried to peek at the notebook in front of her.

"Dawn's doing the studying. Me? It's not studying so much as doodling." Jessica flipped the notebook towards him to show what she was doing.

Noah's pale gray eyes widened at what he saw. What she showed him wasn't the little hearts and swirlys like he expected. It was a very realistic sketch of Dawn enraptured in her studies, her back was bent and her head was buried into her books as she scribbled down something on a piece of paper.

"Oh my God. That's awesome. You drew that?"

Jessica blushed and tossed the notebook back on the table. "Yeah. I didn't feel like studying."

"You're good."

"Thanks. I try, but Angel's better. He does this everyday from memory. I only sketch when I'm bored and I have to look off of something."

Noah grinned, seeing she was being modest, "Can you sketch me? I'd make a great model."

The girl raised her eyebrow at him. In the short months that she'd known the boy, she knew him to be very shy. Now he was acting as if that the word "shy" never existed in his vocabulary. It was kind of weird, but she liked it.

Jessica returned his grin and decided to play his game. "Yeah. I'm sure I can work around that ass on your chin."

Noah quickly covered his dimpled chin and replied, "I don't have an ass on my chin."

"Yes you do," she pointed to his face, "It's like a little elf is mooning me." She burst into laughter and Noah joined in.

"Hey guys," Connor entered the kitchen and walked up to the table, "What's so funny?"

"Noah has a butt-chin," Jessica cheerfully filled in.

Connor shook his head, "Whatever... Noah, the guys were wondering why you were taking so long. We've had the game on pause forever."

"Okay," Noah got up and walked to the fridge to get the water he was originally coming to the kitchen for. He gave Jessica a wave of his hand before heading upstairs.

"I'm right behind you, just gotta ask my sister something," Connor informed his friend as he passed him.

"What's up," Connor's twin asked, smiling up at her brother.

"You really like him, don't you?" Connor got right to the point, his face full of curiosity.

"Who?"

"Noah. You like him."

"What," said in false incredulous tone. She did like him, A LOT, she just felt uncomfortable to tell her brother for some reason. "No. Of course not."

Connor narrowed his blue eyes, checking to see if she was lying. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes! Look, I like Noah, yeah, but it's not like that between us."

Finally, he believed her answer and nodded. "Okay, fine I believe you."

"Besides," Jessica continued, "He's not my type," a mischievous grin appeared on her face and she teased, "Preston on the other hand…"

Connor glared at her. "Don't push it little sister. That's not funny."

"Who said I was being funny?"

Unbeknownst to them, Noah had overheard their whole conversation and had taken Jessica's statement more seriously than it was meant to. The spark of hope that she actually felt something for him other than friendship was stomped out. Noah sighed and sadly trudged up the stairs, the happiness he felt earlier melted away.

TBC…


	19. Oooooh

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 18

Buffy sighed as Angel brushed his lips behind her ear. She snuggled deeper into his embrace, her arms tightening around his that were wrapped around her waist. The two were laid out on one of the black couches in the Roarke's sitting room basking in each other's prescence. Right after school, Buffy and Angel had collapsed on the comfortable chair and fell asleep. It was two hours later, and they still had no desire to move.

"We have to move eventually you know that right?" Buffy stated, tilting her head up a bit to look at Angel lying behind her.

"Nope," was Angel's simple answer, trying to bring her closer to him even though their bodies were practically already meshed together.

"Well we have to whether you like it or not. Everybody's going to Impulsion tonight and they'll kill us if we don't go." Impulsion was a dance club in the outskirts of Sunnydale. It was edgier and more mature than the Bronze and even though it was an eighteen and over club, Spike and his handy dandy connections could get the portion of the group who hadn't become legal yet, in without any questions.

"I'd like to see them try," Angel said. "Besides, why go to a loud and crowded club when you can have this." He started nibbling her neck, causing Buffy to moan. He worked his way up her jawline and positioned himself so he was hovering over her, and then kissed her with enough passion to convince her not to leave their peaceful environment.

When they parted, Buffy smiled up at him and caressed his smooth cheek. "Hmm... We still have to go." Angel inwardly pouted, she was being just as stubborn as his mother.

"No," he firmly replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes," she made the same expression, inching her face closer, Angel doing the same when he answered.

"No."

"Yes."

"No." At this point, their foreheads were firmly pressed together.

"What happens if we get leg cramps," she challenged, playing with the sleeve of his gray t-shirt.

"Oh, see, I have the perfect solution for that," he brought on a seductive gleam in his eye.

"And what would that be?"

He leaned his lips closer to hers and watched as her green eyes fluttered shut, anticipating his wonderful kisses.

"This," he whispered when he was about a centimeter away from her sweet lips. Her eyes shot open and she let out a loud scream when his hands went into an unexpected place.

His fingers moved in wild abandon against her sides and stomach, receiving shrieks of laughter from his girlfriend, he laughing along with her, having the joy of tickling her.

Laughter and squeals filled the room as Buffy struggled and pleaded for Angel to stop his torture, but it was to no avail. Along with the tickling, Angel started to attack her neck and made playful snarling noises, causing Buffy's attempt to push him off of her to become harder, her continuous laughter making her become weaker.

After Angel finally decided to have mercy on her and stopped, their laughter died down, and Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes.

She kissed his forehead lovingly before saying, "Torture me all you want, we're still going."

Angel and groaned and growled at the same time, burying his face into her shoulder, "Woman, you are stubborn," he lifted his head to look at her, a look of mischief in his eyes, "It's one of the many quirks I love about you."

Buffy pretended to be shocked, "Quirks? I thought you said I was perfect."

Angel chuckled, "I lied."

She gasped and swatted him on the shoulder as he settled himself behind her again.

"You're more than perfect," he whispered in her ear sincerely, earning him a bright smile.

"I love you," Buffy declared softly, and intertwined her hands with the ones resting on her stomach.

"I love you, too," he said in return. Both of them felt warmth spread over them, feeling the truthfulness of their declarations.

A few moments later, they heard the approaching footsteps of someone passing by the sitting room. They both looked up and saw Jessica sadly shuffling by, a desolate expression on her face. She was hugging one of her pillows from her room tightly to her chest, and was also holding a half-eaten king sized Kit Kat bar in her hands. It was painfully obvious that something was plaguing her mind.

"Hey Jess," Buffy greeted the younger teenager.

Catching the girl's attention, she paused in her slow walk to look up at the couple before her. She slightly smiled and gave them a small wave that lacked her usual enthusiasm before returning to her walk through the house.

"Is she okay," Buffy asked her boyfriend, watching as the usually optimistic girl walked away.

Angel sighed, "I don't know. She's been like that ever since we came home from school yesterday, and she won't tell us anything."

"Well, you know, she's living with a houseful of men at the moment, maybe she has her period and she's uncomfortable with telling you."

He shook his head, "No, we would know if she had her... thing. She would be talking or yelling non- stop no matter what her mood is. She's crazy when she has her... thing." Buffy had to smile at how Angel was so uncomfortable with saying period, it was cute. "So, um, you think you can-"

"Talk to Dawn when I get home," she finished for him, craning her neck to look into his brown eyes. "Sure."

"Thanks Babe." He kissed her cheek in total gratitude and love.

"Speaking of home...," Buffy rose up from the couch and Angel's arms, much to his dismay, "I have to go back now. Mom's been on this whole 'family togetherness at the dinner table' trip. I think she's been watching a wee bit too much Nick-At-Nite."

Angel stood up and sighed over-dramatically, "Fine. If you have to."

"I do," Buffy said, holding onto his hand as he escorted her to the door.

"Remember to pick me up at 8:30," she reminded him when they got to the now open front door.

"Right." They shared a long goodbye kiss before Angel finally let her go, both immediately missing each other as soon as Angel shut the door behind him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
As Angel walked to his room towards the end of the hall, he paused in front of his sister's room next door to his. He knocked lightly and when he got no response, he slowly pushed the slightly open door.  
His dark eyes came to rest upon Jessica lying on her stomach, her cheek resting against her soft purple sheets of her daybed. Her left arm dangled off the edge of the bed, tracing non-existent patterns on the wooden floor. He could hear her softly singing as she stared at her hand skimming the floor as if she were playing with water, and he felt a pang in his heart. The song was "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty, the song that their dad used to sing to only her when she was upset.

"Jess," he called out to her, making his presence known, interrupting her song.

Keeping her eyes focused on the floor, Jessica responded with, "If you're going to ask me if I'm okay, Oz already beat you to it. As did Xander, Connor, and Lorne, so you're pretty much covered. So bye."

Angel took a step forward into her purple-themed room, "But-," he started to argue, but was cut off when Jessica sternly said, "No."

"I just-"

"No."

"Jessica-" This time, he was interrupted when his sister grabbed a remote that was by her side and pushed a button to have the energetic sounds of her favorite band, Hoobastank, blasting from her speakers, effectively drowning him out with the loud rock music.

Knowing she wasn't going to let up any time soon, Angel stared at his sullen sister for a moment before continuing his journey back to his room. The thought that there were too many stubborn women in his life lingered in his head.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Spike, are you sure you can get us in?" Buffy questioned her platinum blonde cousin, noticing the extremely long line in front of Impulsion.  
"He better get us in," Cordelia sniped, "I bought this dress especially for tonight, and if I don't get to show it off, then some heads are gonna roll. Capice Billy Idol?"

Xander squeezed her shoulders, "You can wear it at the Bronze, Honey," he said, trying to be soothing. From the look on her face, he had said the wrong thing.

"Ugh, I don't think so. This is Versace."

"Right." He didn't know what else to say. All her dresses looked the same to him, short and low-cut.

"I'll get us in," Spike said firmly, "Just follow me." He walked passed the line, the other twelve trailing behind him. When they got to the door, Spike exchanged a friendly conversation with the large bouncer, shook his hand, slipping him a few bills in the process. The butched up man waved the group in, making the antsy people who had to wait in line forever groan and yell in anger.

As soon as they entered the huge club, they felt the heat coming off of the bunched up people. A fancy set up of laser, strobe, and other dance lights lit up the dance floor; the tables and the bar had a dim, soft glow of lights.

"I don't see how it's any different from the Bronze," Angel yelled over the loud mix of music, ever the negative one.

He felt Buffy grip his arms that held her tightly about the waist. He looked down at his blonde beauty and leaned in closer to hear her better.

"Shh Baby," Buffy said into his ear, "Just enjoy it." She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before leading everybody through the packed club to find a booth big enough to fit their large group.

As the night progressed, the teenagers found themselves having more and more fun each minute. It was the first night the group met Sam and Wesley, Riley and Fred's new honeys, and they welcomed them with open arms. Everybody loved Sam, they couldn't help but not to. She was a very sweet girl filled with lots of energy. She and Riley made such a sweet couple. Surprisingly enough, Wesley and Gunn got along very well, considering Gunn and Fred's past. Wesley was a very bookish person, but seemed to loosen up and showed off some dance moves cheesier than Xander's. He was from England and Buffy was instantly reminded of her own father, he would probably be like the son Giles' never had. Besides his nerdy side, Wesley was rugged looking with a cool demeanor, his blue eyes shined of gentleness and generosity. He was a perfect fit for Fred.

Buffy and Angel were caught up in a heated embrace, unmindful of the surroundings. That was until Buffy abruptly pulled away from her boyfriend's lips with a gasp and a huge smile on her face. Angel stared at her incredulously for a moment before trying to lean back into her. Buffy again pulled away and jumped up from his lap.

"I love this song," she exclaimed with much enthusiasm. She then continued to drag her unwilling partner off to the dance floor.

**_/It's so hot in here_**

**_Oh, it's so hot and I need some air_**

**_And boy, don't stop 'cause I'm half way there_**

**_It's not complicated, we're just syncopated_**

**_We can read each other's minds_**

**_One love united_**

**_Two bodies synchronizing _**

**_Don't even need to touch me_**

**_Baby, just/_**

Angel really didn't want to end their earlier activities, so he tried his best to put up a fight and bring her back to the booth to resume where they left off, but Buffy was relentless.

As soon as they reached the crowded dance floor, Buffy turned in his arms and rolled and grinded herself into his body, moving her hips to the beat of the music. Not able to resist his love, Angel rested his large hands on her hips and moved with her, the deprived smoochies being quickly made up for.

**_/Breathe on me, yeah, oh_**

**_Baby just, breathe on me_**

**_We don't need to touch, just_**

**_Breathe, oh, yeah_**

**_Oh, this is way beyond the physical_**

**_Tonight, my senses don't make sense at all_**

**_Our imagination, taking us to places_**

**_We have never been before_**

**_Take me in, let it out_**

**_Don't even need to touch me_**

**_Baby, just/_**

The feeling of Angel's hands on her body made her feel a rush of heat go through her and it certainly wasn't the heat she already felt from the bodies crammed altogether. She knew he felt it, too, for she could feel the evidence pressing against her back. Her cheeks flushed with a mix from two different emotions, one overruling the other. She knew then that she wanted to experience more.

She turned around to face him. Staring into each other's eyes, they seemed to have a silent conversation while the danced. Angel understood what Buffy wanted and was ready for through her pretty now hazel eyes. When she nodded her head in affirmation, he gently gripped her hand and lead her off the dance floor to find their party and tell them they were heading off and to ask Willow to cover up for Buffy.

**_/Breathe on me, yeah, oh baby_**

**_Just, breathe on me_**

**_We don't need to tough, just_**

**_Breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me), oh baby_**

**_Just, breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me)_**

**_We don't need to touch_**

**_Just breathe _**

**_Monogamy is the way to go_**

**_Just put your lips together and blow_**

**_Breathe, breathe, oh/_**

Angel and Buffy made a silent trek up to his room through the darkened house, walking on tiptoes so they wouldn't wake a snoring Lorne passed out on one of the couches.

**_/Breathe on me (oh, oh) oh_**

**_Baby just, breathe on me (on me)_**

**_We don't need to touch just/_**

Angel quietly closed his bedroom door behind him and locked it, knowing that some of the occupants of the house didn't know of the concept called knocking.

He slowly approached his girlfriend, caught up in her trance. He carefully traced the remarkable features of her face, her lips kissing his fingertips when they passed. He gently pulled her to him and captured her lips in a slow, sensual kiss, making sure she felt all of the love that radiated off of him and vice versa. Slowly and carefully, they peeled off each other's clothes, both caressing and kissing each new patch of skin revealed.

/Breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me) oh /

Several minutes later, Angel crawled over a heavily breathing Buffy. He smoothed a hand through her lovely golden hair and whispered "I love you," and she sincerely responded in kind. Buffy surrendered to his love and let her Angel take her to a whole new level she had never been before.

**_/Baby just, breathe (breathe) on (on) me (me)_**

**_We don't need to touch, just... /_**

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Sometime during the late hours of the night, a strange thumping sound roused Jessica from a peaceful sleep. She blearily looked at the wall her bed lay against, the sound seemed to come from Angel's room.  
"Oh God," she groaned from being woken up, rubbing her tired eyes, wondering what her brother was doing.

When muffled female voice repeated what she had just said, Jessica's eyes widened and she quickly propped herself on her elbows.

'Either they're doing what I think they're doing, which is so ew,' she thought, 'or Buffy and Angel had found the faith in God and are now having an intense prayer session.' Dear God she hoped it was the latter, knowing full well it wasn't.

Her hopes were shattered when she heard Buffy yelling in ecstacy, "Harder Angel! Harder," and the thumping on the wall became a bit louder. Jessica's face scrunched up in horror and disgust and she scrambled to get out of the bed and away from the wall she shared with Angel.

She quickly stumbled to the sliding door that lead her to Connor's connected room, making sure the door was securely shut behind her, blocking out any sounds that leaked into her room. Satisfied that she only heard Connor's soft snoring, she went to his bed and nudged his sprawled out body.

After a few more nudges, Connor finally lifted his head from his pillow, his eyes squinted so he can see through the cloudiness of sleep and darkness. Seeing that the figure before him was his twin sister, he grumpily snapped at her, "What?"

"Move, I wanna sleep here."

"Why?"

"Listen," she instructed, and cracked open the sliding door just a crack, knowing that Connor had a freakishly good sense of hearing. Connor sucked his teeth angrily, but stilled for a moment and perked his ears. Hearing groans and moans, he visibly shuddered and mumbled an "Ew" before burrowing his head back into his pillow and scooting over to allow his sister to sleep beside him.

TBC…


	20. Men

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part19

Blinking his brown eyes awake, Angel looked around his sunlit room in a daze. He stretched his long arms above his head and let out a loud yawn. Still a little disoriented from sleep, he momentarily forgot about the company he kept in his bed, so he was somewhat startled when he heard a giggle.

With his arms still raised above him, he turned his head to the side, and saw a smiling Buffy next to him.

He smiled back at her, finally remembering what had occurred between them last night.

"Good morning," he greeted, rolling onto his side to face his girlfriend and rubbed her bare arms.

"So it is," she responded happily and grazed his cheek softly with her hand. She scooted her face closer and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips.

"How long have you been awake," he asked her, playing with her bed ridden, yet still beautiful hair.

"About ten minutes," she giggled again, "Do you always smile when you sleep Mr. Liam Roarke," she asked.

"Only when I had the most incredible night with a certain blonde named Buffy Summers."

Buffy smiled adoringly at him and leaned forward to brush her lips against his again. "Good answer."

"Good enough to get me laid," Angel joked and waggled his eyebrows. His girlfriend hit him playfully in response.

"Liam Angelus Roarke," she gasped, pretending to be shocked by his words, but it was ruined when she raised her thin eyebrow and wickedly smiled at him, "You already got laid." She then squealed when Angel caught her off guard by rolling on top of her.

"Doesn't mean we can't add another tally mark on the score board." He seductively trailed his hand down her side.

Buffy's already broad smile became bigger. "As great as that sounds... I think everybody's awake."

The corner of Angel's mouth twitched up into his famous grin, and he leaned forward to kiss along Buffy's slender neck. "So? Who cares. They most likely already know you're here," he let out a small chuckle, "especially Jessica."

The blonde's eyes popped open, and she shoved Angel's shoulders so he would stop his wonderful torment.

"What do you mean 'especially Jessica'," she asked. Why would Jessica be the one to especially know what went on last night?

"I meant that even though this house is huge, these walls are thin, and the way we were going at it last night, she probably heard everything," he explained as if he just told her that the sun always rises; as if it was an everyday occurrence and wasn't a big deal.

Once again, Buffy's hazel-blue eyes bulged out of their sockets and she shot up into a sitting position, making sure the sheet covered her naked body. "Excuse me! Are you telling me that YOUR little sister heard EVERYTHING we did last night!"

"Buffy, it's no big deal. She probably moved to Connor's room as soon as she heard us."

"No big deal!" She pushed Angel off of her and shot up into a sitting position, making sure the blue sheets were covering her. "How is that 'no big deal?"

"Well, I'm sure she's used to it by now."

Buffy's jaw dropped at his statement. "I can't believe you just said that." She stood up out of his bed with the sheet still wrapped around her, and started to gather her clothes scattered around the room.

"Buffy, come on," he used the comforter to cover himself, then walked over to his upset girlfriend, "Calm down, okay? Don't you think you're overreacting just a bit here?" From the death glare he received from her, he knew that he had just said the wrong thing and he was definitely going to pay out the ass for it.

"You are such a guy. You practically tell me that you've had a lot of girls in your bed after we made love last night and you tell me that I'm overreacting? You are so insensitive!" With that she stormed off into his private bathroom and slammed the door.

He winced and stood in front of the bathroom door. "Buffy..."

"Fuck you! Leave me alone!"

He let out a long breath and scoffed in disgust at himself, then flopped back down on the bed with his hands over his face. "Nice job you idiot," he mumbled, inwardly kicking himself.

A second into his self-loathing, and there was a knock at the door. He groaned and yelled "Hold on." He put on boxers and a pair of basketball shorts before opening the door. On the other side he found the source of his and Buffy's little tiff standing in front of him with one of the cordless house phones in hand.

"Yeah," he snapped and Jessica raised her eyebrow.

"Wow, you're grumpy for a guy who just got laid. Speaking of, next time you guys wanna do it, either go somewhere private, or at least to the many vacant rooms on the other side of the house where no one can hear you. You two really need to work on your volume control."

"Thus one of the reasons why I'm grumpy," at his sister's questioning gaze, he waved his hand in dismissal and whispered to her, "I'll tell you later. What did you want?"

"Oh. Willow just called. She said Mrs. Summers called her and said that they need Buffy at the bookstore."

Coming up from behind Angel, a fully dressed Buffy opened the door wider, blushing when she asked Jessica, "When?"

"Well Willow said she said anytime you're ready."

"Which in Mom talk means now. I better go. Thanks Jessica." Without even sparing Angel a single glance, she walked out of the room, leaving him behind.

Jessica murmured, "Ouch," to her brother before following the blonde downstairs, passing Connor on the way.

"Hey Bro," Connor said to a solemn Angel with a grin on his face, "Buffy didn't look too happy... rough night?" he teased.

"Shut up," Angel retaliated, glaring harshly at his younger brother. "Look, I need to talk to you about why our sister's been all down recently," he quickly changed the subject, not wanting to talk about his predicament at the moment.

Connor's face became serious. "Noah's been an asshole to her, I know; Dawn told me." Again, a smug smile tugged at his lips, "Don't worry, I took care of it."

His brother responded with a devilish smirk of his own, "Did it include some violence?"

"Just a harsh shove against the wall, nothing drastic. He surprisingly gave in quick. Let's just say that we'll be able to make Jessica happy and make my friend Noah do something that would make him want to kill himself all at the same time."

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Humming a jaunty tune to herself, Jessica skipped out of her room, dressed for a night out of the house. Her mood was a far cry from a few hours ago. After gazing into the mirror, and saw how sad she looked, it suddenly dawned on her that she wouldn't let some boy effect her. It hadn't happened before, and wouldn't happen again, no matter how much she cared for him.

Figuring she had some time to kill before she left with Oz, she headed downstairs to the kitchen to get herself a drink. On her way, she passed the basement and suddenly heard a consistent, uneven thumping coming from the basement. She stared at the closed door for a moment, finding it odd that someone might be down there. She thought it was just her and Oz in the house. Knowing that there was a chance that she could walk into something compromising, if last night wasn't any indication, her curiosity got the better of her, and she cautiously made her way down the steps.

"Hello," she called out, staying in the middle of the staircase, just to be safe.

The thumping paused, and a sweaty Angel, donned in his workout clothes, appeared at the bottom of the steps.

"Yeah," he answered, grabbing a towel that was hanging on the railing and wiped the sweat off his skin.

His sister walked down the rest of the steps until she stood in front of him. She furrowed her brow and tilted her head. "What are you doing here? I thought you went somewhere hours ago."

He walked further into the room with Jessica right behind him. "No. I've just been down here all day," he reached into the mini-fridge and took out a bottle of water.

"Geez," she said, and sat herself on the bench press, "You must really be upset then."

Angel leaned against the wall. "Why do you say that?"

"Because when you're upset, you usually brood or work out intensely. At times, both. I could safely assume that this is about whatever happened between you and Buffy earlier, right?"

He put down his bottle of water, and moved to the punching bag next to him. "Maybe," he replied before hitting the heavy bag.

"What happened?"

He continued to beat on his makeshift victim as he talked to his sister, "I just put my stupid ass foot in my stupid ass mouth."

"Did you say something insensitive," she questioned with a roll of her eyes.

"You got it," he panted out, throwing a set of hard punches.

"You are such a guy," his sister stated, repeating what Buffy said earlier.

"I've heard it before," he replied.

Jessica stepped behind the punching bag, and held it steady for him. "I'm sure if you apologize for whatever you said, she'll forgive you."

Angel stopped his punishment on the bag. "You think?"

"Of course. If she loves you as much as I think she does, then she will," she assured him, but then tilted her head again, as she did when she was curious, then asked, "What did you say, anyway?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his damp hair. "Well, I told her that you probably heard us last night, and that it wasn't a big deal because you probably moved to Connor's room, and that you were you used to it, and somehow, that lead to me being a man whore."

Jessica gazed upon him incredulously, "You are stupid," she said.

"I know," he agreed, "Do you really think she'll forgive me?"

"Oh, you're going to need to grovel. Possibly even buy her something pretty."

"Yeah," he then really looked at his sister, and noticed that she was out of her house clothes and was in her "surfer" outfit. She had on loose, khaki Bermuda shorts, a black Roxy shirt, matching flip flops, and an anklet made of cowrie shells. Her dark hair was straightened and she only wore eyeliner and lip gloss. She never liked to get that gussied up like regular girls, much to her mom's dismay. "Are you going out," he questioned her.

A happy smile lit her face, which made Angel glad she was out of her funk. "Yeah. Oz and I are going to that Chinese buffet, and then we're going to the Bronze. It's open-mic night, but the Dingoes are the only ones getting paid to play there. Cool, huh?"

Despite how upset he was, Angel chuckled, "Yeah. Cool. Is Willow going?"

"No. Her uncle from New York is in town, so she has to stay for dinner. She'll be at the club later, though."

"I see. You're in a better mood, what happened?"

"I decided not to be sad anymore," she simply replied, sitting back down on the bench press.

"Obviously," he made her scoot over so he can sit next to her, "Come on. You made me tell you things, now it's my turn to help you. That's our thing, remember?"

Jessica grinned and nodded, "Yeah. I remember."

"So... Tell me. What's going on?" Angel already knew the story, but he really wanted to hear it from his sister. Connor and her may be the best of friends, but Angel and Jessica had a close relationship, too.

"Remember Noah? Connor's really shy friend?" Angel just nodded in response. "Well, I really... like him, but I never wanted to tell Connor, because I know how protective he is, how all of you are, and I didn't want to ruin their friendship because Connor decided to beat him up one day just because he put his arm around me." Angel let out a sigh. They were overprotective, but it was just their brotherly instinct to be. Plus, because they didn't have a dad anymore, they felt they had to protect her and their mother twice as much.

"Anyways," she continued, "So one day, we're like all buddy-buddy, you know, and then the next day he avoided me and ignored me whenever I was around, giving me the cold shoulder. That only bugged me somewhat, because I didn't know what I did to make him to act like that. What really got to me was when I caught him making out with Melody. I really liked him, Angel, and I thought he had feelings for me, too, the only guy who actually did have feelings for me. I mean, usually all the guys I know only want to be my friend, or are too afraid to approach me because of you four and Riley," she let out a sad chuckle, " I don't know, that's just my theory, maybe there's just something wrong with me."

Angel put his arm around his little sister and pulled her into his embrace, and despite how sweaty he was, she let him.

"There's nothing wrong with you," Angel assured her, then tilted her face up to look at him, "You're beautiful, okay? Don't let anyone make you believe otherwise. Why do you think we're all so protective of you?"

Jessica nodded. "I know, that's why I'm not in a funk anymore. I realized that I don't need a guy that makes me doubt myself. No matter how much I care about him."

Angel smiled down at his sister, he was so proud of how wise she was.

The two shared a moment before Jessica spoke up again, completely off topic. "Hey, do you wanna come with us?"

Angel shook his head and started to decline her offer. "No, that's okay. I can stay home, read a book and... brood," he joked, referring to all the times that his siblings, and Buffy, had teased him because he was such a brooder.

"Come on. You must be hungry if you've been down here all day. I know how much you like to pig out you fatty," she teased, "And afterwards, you can find Buffy and apologize for your retarded-ness. If that fails and you need a laugh, I heard the Kendall sisters are making their singing debut tonight. We can all bask in their humiliation. It'll be great."

"I don't know, Buffy seemed pretty mad at me this morning. I think she needs her space."

"How do you know? Did she tell you that when you called her?" Angel looked away from her, a sheepish, ashamed look came upon his face. Jessica's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, then she landed a swift punch to her brother's arm. "You didn't call her," the brunette male shook his head, "Oh my God! You're more screwed up than I thought!"

"I was going to call her when the bookstore closed and she was home."

"No, don't do that. Your apology would be more effective if you do it in person. Trust me, I'm a girl."

"But..."

"Ah! No buts," she stood up and pulled Angel to his feet, "You're going to dinner with Oz and me, then you're going to stop by the store and get flowers or whatever, and then you're gonna go where ever Buffy's at, and you're going to talk to her."

Jessica started to push Angel up the stairs, when Oz chose that time to enter the basement in search for his sister.

"Hey," Oz said to Angel, stopping in front of him in the middle of the stairs, "you're still here?"

Before Angel could answer their brother, Jessica poked her head from behind Angel's back, and spoke up.

"He's been down here all day because he and Buffy had a fight. Now he's gonna get ready, and come with us, and then he's gonna go to Buffy. Right Angel?"

The older teenager sighed and rolled his eyes. "Right."

"Cool," Oz responded, and then said to Angel, "Hurry up," and then turned around and exited the basement.

"Yeah Angel," Jessica said to him as she followed her oldest brother up the stairs, "You're such a girl when you get ready."

"Are not!"

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"Buffy... Buffy dear?"

The blonde was snapped out of her daze, hearing her father call out to her. She furrowed her eyebrows and gazed at him with question.

"Huh," she said.

"Are you alright? You seem quite... distracted."

Buffy gave Giles a small smile of reassurance. "I'm fine, Daddy. It's just... stuff. Nothing to worry about."

Her father stared at her skeptically, but then softened his features and took her delicate hand in his. "Buffy, I may be an old, stuffy British man, but I am still your father. You can tell me anything, I'll listen."

She squeezed his hand. "I know, thank you, but I don't feel like talking about it." 'Especially with you,' she silently added, 'I don't think he would want to hear about what happened after my boyfriend violated his first born.'

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, at the risk of sounding like horrible father, since you're going through some teenage dilemma, I need to ask a favor from you."

Buffy leaned forward on the counter she was behind, "Ask away."

"See, your Uncle Carter has invited me and some of our friends over so we can catch up on things and-"

"Go have fun at your poker game, Dad," Buffy interrupted him, smiling with amusement, "I'll lock up."

Giles smiled back at his daughter, "Thank you."

He told Buffy that he was stopping by the bank first and then to Carter's apartment, and instructed her to straighten up the place before she left and to call his cell phone if she needed him. He grabbed his coat and the money from the register, and kissed Buffy on the forehead before dashing out of his bookstore.

As soon as her dad left, Buffy sighed and turned around to put some music on to fill the silence of the bookstore. The frown she wore on her face before she talked to her dad crept back into place. She slumped over the counter, and went back into her thoughts. With one hand she fingered the necklace that was given to her on her birthday; it hadn't come off her neck since the day it was placed there.

It didn't take her long to figure out that the fight that she had with Angel was stupid and pointless. She didn't know what came over her to react that way, but even though she knew it was a silly outburst, her pride got the best of her, and she internally promised herself that she wouldn't be the one to break down and apologize.

She sighed and turned on the radio her dad kept behind the counter to fill the silence of the store. Once she found a song that she liked, the blonde teenager gathered all the books that weren't put back in their right place and went into the stacks.

Over the music, she heard the soft chiming of the bells that hung over the door.

"We're closed," Buffy called out, without leaving the stacks. When she didn't hear the bells ring again, she huffed in frustration and abandoned her task to show the late customer out the door.

"I'm sorry, but we're...," she trailed off and stopped in her tracks when she came in contact with a pair of brown eyes.

"Hey."

TBC…


	21. My Sappy Romantic chapter

PLEASE READ: Hey guys! Wanna know why I've been on hiatus YET AGAIN? I've been trying to revise this fic a bit. Don't worry, I didn't change it… that much. I edited it a little, I added some stuff, and I just tried to make it better. Let's just say if I was doing plastic surgery to this fic I would've given it some botox, collagen, and a boob augmentation, haha. Anyways, I would read the previous parts, it may not look like I did anything to the chapters, but trust me I did (Well not to chapter 1?. I added the link below, so I hope you enjoy my revision. Oh and I wasn't too sure about this chapter, so if I get more negative feedback than positive, I'm revising again!

Lynn

"Mahal"  
By: Lynn  
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!  
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.  
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/  
E-MAIL:  
BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)

Part 20

'Okay, you can do this,' Angel silently encouraged himself when Oz's van stopped in front of Mr. Summers' bookstore. His heart pounded with nervousness and he fidgeted in the front seat.

"Well, are you gonna go in or not," his sister questioned him. She was sitting between the two front seats, the Dingoes' equipment taking most of the room in the back.

He looked at one sibling to another and nodded. "I'm going in, I just need to calm myself first so I don't look like a spaz when I talk to her."

"Don't worry," Oz encouraged him, "You'll be fine."

When Angel didn't budge a few minutes later, Jessica let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh my God Angel! Just go in!"

"Well, what if-"

"Go in or I'll tell Mom about how you and that one girl had sex on her bed!"

Angel furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "I never had sex on with anyone on Mom's bed."

Jessica frowned. "You didn't," Angel shook his head and she looked at both of her brothers with curiosity. "Who was it then?" She focused on Oz and looked him up and down, "Was it you?"

He also shook his head negatively and answered his sister's question. "That was Xander and Faith."

"Oh," she wrinkled her nose and shuddered in disgust, "Ew. Well, then, I'll just tell Mom that it was you anyway so leave. Now."

"You better go, bro," Oz said, "I don't think she's bluffing."

"Fine," Angel grumbled. Jessica handed him a big shopping bag and he finally stepped out of the van. When he reached the door, he turned his head to look back at his two siblings. Jessica gave him a cheesy grin and two thumbs up for encouragement and then Oz sped off to the Bronze before Angel could chicken out and run back to the van.

He took a deep breath and entered the store. The bell above the door chimed, alerting his presence. He quickly scanned the room from where he was standing and didn't see his girlfriend anywhere. Even though he didn't see her, he knew she was there because the sounds of her favorite radio station filled the air.

Suddenly, he heard her sweet voice call from the stacks, "We're closed." He purposely kept silent to lure her out. When he finally heard her footsteps approaching, he took another deep breath to help mentally prepare himself.

She finally came into sight while saying, "I'm sorry, but we're-"

Buffy stopped a few feet in front of him and Angel stared deeply into her eyes.

"Hey," he said.

Buffy started to fiddle with her fingers and stared down at her feet. "Hey," she repeated.

"We should talk."

"Yeah, I guess we should."

"Um, I wanted to… apologize for earlier," Angel started to explain after a bout of uncomfortable silence. He took one step closer to her, "Look, Buffy, what I said didn't come out the way I intended it to. What I meant was that Jessica should be used to the fact that I've had sex before. She's never even heard… I never brought those girls home. During that time, I didn't even care about there feelings. I even went so far as to make them believe I did care so I could get them to sleep with me and then dump them horribly just for my enjoyment." At Buffy's shocked expression, he quickly reassured her. "That's not what I intended to do to you. You mean everything to me and I didn't mean to hurt you. I am so sorry."

She sighed and spoke up, "No, Angel." Angel was afraid that she wasn't going to accept his apology and kick him out on his ass. She finally looked up into his eyes and also took another step closer, "I'm should be the one doing the apologizing," she said much to Angel's surprise and relief. "You were right, I was overreacting. Well…you already know it was my first time and all," Angel nodded in understanding, "and what you said, it reminded me that it wasn't your first time, and I kinda freaked. Well, really freaked. You're more experienced than me, and I guess I acted that way because I didn't think I… measured up to your standards."

Angel frowned at her confession and finally closed the gap between them. He grasped both of her hands in his and made sure that her eyes stared into his. "Buffy, being with you… It was like it was my first time all over again." Buffy furrowed her eyebrows, not quite understanding what he meant. He let out a sigh and released one of his hands to run it through her hair. "What I mean is that I love you so much that it wasn't just sex for me. It went way beyond that. See, with you, I feel these powerful emotions that I've never felt with any other girl I've been with. So Buffy, you shouldn't be afraid that you don't meet my standards, I'm more afraid that I don't measure up to yours."

Buffy's hazel eyes filled with tears and she wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him to her tightly.

"I love you," Angel heard her say. Her voice was slightly muffled due to her face being buried in his neck.

He pressed a kiss to her head and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. "I love you, too," he responded.

As a slow song came on the radio, Angel gently loosened her grip on him and held her face in his hands. He wiped the few stray tears that leaked from her eyes and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Dance with me," he whispered and Buffy nodded her head. She snuggled close to his chest and swayed with him to the soothing rhythm of the song.

Looking at the floor, Buffy suddenly noticed the big brown shopping bag lying by Angel's feet.

"Hey Angel, what's that," she asked him gesturing to the bag.

"Oh, um," he reluctantly left her arms to retrieve the bag, "I got some stuff for you."

"Aww… You didn't have to."

"I know, but I wanted to." He reached into the bag and pulled out five long stemmed roses tied together by a white string. They were each a different color: red, pink, coral, purple, and yellow. "I didn't remember which color you liked," he confessed, "Plus the florist told me that each of these colors have a meaning. The coral one is desire, the yellow one is friendship and joy, the purple is love at first sight, the pink is perfect happiness, and red is love and passion. I thought all of them applied to the way I feel about you."

"You're such a sappy romantic under all that manly exterior aren't you, Roarke," she teased him and he rolled his eyes.

"The price I pay for being raised by only a woman," he joked back, drawing out a giggle from Buffy.

"I, uh, also got you this." He pulled out a house shaped box from the bag and handed it to her. "You better like it, 'cause I went through Hell getting it."

Buffy smiled at him lead him to a table so she could open the oddly shaped box. She placed it at her feet when she sat down and handed Angel the flowers. She bent over to open up the box and gasped when she pulled out the item it held.

"Aw, Angel, it's so cute." In her hands, she held a dark brown bear that was dressed exactly the way Angel did the first day that he met her. It had the open black shirt with rolled up sleeves over a white tank top and tiny dark, blue jeans. It even had small black boots and the black leather cuff on its right wrist just like Angel did.

"You went to Build-A-Bear Workshop," she giggled and gave the bear a hug. To her surprise, Angel's voice saying, "Forever, that's the whole point," rang from the bear.

Angel blushed while looking down at the flowers. He pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.

"Jessica made me go in there. She insisted that you would love it. I think she just did it to laugh at my embarrassment. There was this REALLY chipper lady who insisted I do these weird things to a tiny stuff heart. She told me to shake it in my hands and turn around in a circle and then make a wish on it." He glared at Buffy when she started to laugh hysterically at his story. "She even made me pretend to bathe the bear in this stupid bath tub with no water. It was humiliating. Jessica taped the whole thing with her digital camera which she just so conveniently happened to have."

"Aw, poor baby," she said while making a mental note to ask Jessica for that video. "Thank you for my gifts. I love them."

After she kissed him, Angel said, "There's one more."

"Angel-," she started to protest.

"No. This one is important." She nodded and allowed him to proceed. He handed her back her roses and reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet pouch. He opened it to draw out a small silver ring. He took her left hand and slipped it on her ring finger.

"It's beautiful," Buffy stated.

As Angel rubbed his thumb over the intricate design of the ring he began to tell her the significance of the object.

"My dad, before he died, he gave each of us a ring like this one and a matching one to go with it." Buffy then remembered seeing this type of ring on the fingers of each Roarke. She always wondered why they all wore it, and now she knew. "It's called a Claddagh ring. My dad was from Ireland, and he told us that they would use these as a sign of devotion. The hands represent friendship, the crown is loyalty, and the heart is, well, love. When you wear it with the heart pointed towards you, it means you belong to someone. Like this," he showed his own ring on his left hand with the heart pointing inwards. "He told us that when we're older and we've found the one person that we want to be with, we give the matching ring to that individual."

Again, Buffy's eyes welled up with tears when Angel's eyes connected with hers. They both leaned forward, and as soon as their lips made a passionate connection, Angel's cell phone started to ring, effectively ruining the moment.

"What," he barked into the phone. "I'm at Giles' bookstore with Buffy… That's none of your business… If we go there will you stop bugging me… Well would you at least stop bugging me for the night… Fine, I'll see you in ten… Bye."

"That was Xander," Angel told his girlfriend, "They wanted us to meet them at the Bronze."

Buffy nodded and rose from her chair with her new belongings, "Alright. I just have to lock up first."

After they exited the store and Buffy locked the door, she suddenly whipped around and laid a passionate kiss on Angel's lips.

"Thank you, Angel. For everything. For loving me."

Angel smiled down at her, "Anytime, baby, anytime."

As they walked hand in hand to the Bronze, which was just a block away, Buffy suddenly asked, "How much do you think Jessica heard last night?"

TBC…


End file.
